Cara and the list of Gifts
by MangAsian13
Summary: When Merlin and Arthur go out hunting, they meet an orphaned deer. They name her Cara. Will Cara help them bind their destiny together in a more powerful yet sweet way?
1. Finding 2 wonderful things during 1 hunt

Rushing through the hall to Prince Arthur's bedchamber, Merlin sighed heavily. He was late _again_. He opened the door and stepped inside waiting for Arthur to scold him for the hundredth time.

"You're late, Merlin," Arthur noted, sitting in his queen size bed with his arms crossed glaring at Merlin. His blond hair was sticking up in random directions, making him look....funny.

"Well, I'm sorry about that," Merlin apologized, trying to suppress the desire to laugh at the... interesting hairdo. Of course, he ended up failing and cracked up, pointing at Arthur's hair.

"What's so funny?" Arthur asked.

"I think this is the first time I've seen you like this," Merlin replied after he calmed down, grabbing a mirror on Arthur's table and walked up to him.

"What?" Arthur sounded more and more confused. '_He can be so cute sometimes_' Merlin thought '_ Wait... What the hell am I thinking?!_ '

Merlin held the mirror in front of Arthur waiting for a reaction.

"I see you got a new hair style _sire_," Merlin smirked.

Arthur just glared at him, swung his legs onto the floor and stood up.

"I wouldn't be so smug if I were you," Arthur warned angrily,"And besides, I'll wipe that smirk off your idiotic face soon enough"

"Oh, and how would you do that _sire_?" Merlin pushed.

"Well, it seems you've got a lot to do today,_Mer_lin," stated Arthur, combing back his hair with his hands.

Merlin's smirk disappeared (just like Arthur had predicted) and he paled. '_This can't be good..._' he gulped. He stood there watching as Arthur opened his draw and pulled out a scroll, or what Merlin thought was a scroll.

"Here you go," Arthur smiled as he handed the 'scroll' to Merlin,"I suggest you enjoy yourself then"

'_Anything Arthur considers enjoyable is like torture for me..._' Merlin sighed at the thought. He unrolled the 'scroll' and found himself staring at a **whole** list of things to get and deliver for someone. '_I swear, he probably spends his spare time thinking of ways to torture me_'.

"Umm... How long have you been making this?" Merlin asked.

"Since last week," Arthur replied smugly,"I thought it would be useful, and it would make _you_ useful for once"

"Going out to pick flowers is considered useful?" questioned Merlin raising his eyebrow as he continued to scan the list.

"Of course it is!" Arthur blushed furiously,"It's for the ladies from Rome coming to the feast tonight!"

Rolling his eyes, Merlin went towards the wardrobe.

"By the way, we're going hunting this morning," said Arthur calmly, closing the draw quietly.

Merlin groaned, he had always hated hunting, watching innocent animals get killed made his stomach churn. '_Could this day get worse?_' he thought exasperatedly while he flipped through the clothes inside the wardrobe.

"Who are you taking to the feast? I heard that there's going to be dancing," Merlin wondered, his heart beating rapidly as he waited for a reply.

"I don't know..." Arthur mumbled loud enough for Merlin to hear,"Maybe Guinevere would like to come"

"Of course she would!!" Merlin exclaimed, ignoring the sting in his chest," I bet she likes you too!"

"You think so?" asked Arthur happily,"But it would be weird for a servant to go with the prince to a feast..."

"Don't worry, I'll think of something," reassured Merlin.

"I think Guinevere will end up rejecting me if _you_ thought of something," Arthur laughed,"Seeing that you have a brain of a fish"

Merlin just glared at him and insulted Arthur with his usual insult "You prat."

"I find it quite astounding that Gwen even likes you, since your such a prat" retorted Merlin.

"Well at least I am loved, unlike _some _people" Arthur retorted back.

That insult made Merlin snap. He threw the clothes and everything else he was carrying at Arthur's face and stomped out of the room, leaving Arthur confused and wondering.

* * *

"Merlin!" Gaius called out as Merlin came inside, stomped straight to his room and threw a rolled up piece of paper into his already messed up room. '_That bloody prat_' Merlin thought angrily until he felt someone tap his shoulder. Merlin turned around and was now face to face with a very concerned Gaius.

"What's the matter?" Gaius asked, worried,"You're rarely angry. Did Arthur say something to you?"

"N-No, not really," Merlin stammered,"Nothing that was particularly insulting"

"Then why are you so upset?" Gaius asked again, obviously not believing Merlin.

"I don't know, honestly" Merlin mumbled.

"I suggest you should go back," Gaius suggested,"Or you might get sacked... again"

"But he'll just rehire me again, like always" said Merlin irritatedly.

Gaius nodded in agreement but either way he pushed Merlin out of the room and shut the door in Merlin's face. Then he reappeared with Merlin's clothes (which wasn't a lot) and passed them to Merlin.

"Here you go," Gaius smiled, then shut the door in Merlin's face again...

Merlin just stood there, staring at the large brown door which belonged to Gaius's room. '_Does this mean Gaius kicked me out..._' Merlin thought in shock '_Then where the hell am I going to stay?!_' '_I'll ask Gwen_'

* * *

With Gwen:

Gwen was helping Morgana fit into a new dress she found lying around in the wardrobe. When the dress was on, Morgana looked stunning in it. The dress showed off her curves, the Vee neckline revealed her long pale white neck, baby blue at the top faded to white at the bottom brought her eyes out and the very loose that hung from her shoulders were white with a tint of blue at the ends.

"I can't believe I've never worn this dress," Morgana exclaimed as she observed herself in the mirror.

"Maybe you did, but you don't remember when," Gwen pointed out, grabbing a brush on the table and started brushing Morgana's hair.

"Probably---- "

SLAM!

Gwen and Morgana span around to find Merlin sweating and panting at their doorstep. Both girls quickly ran up to Merlin and helped him inside.

"What happened?!" Morgana and Gwen asked in concern.

"Gaius kicked me out," Merlin replied still panting,"And I've got nowhere to stay overnight"

Both girls looked at each other, then turned back to Merlin.

"You could stay with us..." Gwen offered,"But we're girls and it would be kind of awkward"

"And not mention Uther would have your head if he saw you here," Morgana added.

"Why don't you ask Arthur?" Gwen suggested,"He's male, so it wouldn't quite as awkward, and Uther won't kill you because your his manservant"

Morgana nodded in agreement.

"But what if Uther came to check on Arthur at night and find _me_ there?" Merlin argued,"And i doubt Arthur would let me have a goodnight sleep anyway"

'_I'm pretty sure he snores_' Merlin mused inwardly.

"Since when have you been so against Arthur?" Morgana laughed as if reading his mind,"Did he do something pathetic again?"

"He said I wasn't loved," Merlin mumbled quietly but Morgana heard.

"He---WHAT?!!" Morgana shouted loudly,"That bloody bastard, I'll show him!!"

Gwen jumped in surprise,"What happened?"

"Arthur said Merlin wasn't loved!" Morgana said furiously,"How could he say that to the poor boy?!"

Gwen just stood there in amazement at what she was hearing. Merlin waved his hand in front of Gwen's shocked face.

"Hello? You still here?"

"Oh! Sorry, I was really shocked," Gwen mumbled,"Why don't you go to Arthur and have talk with him, it might clear any misunderstandings"

"Sorry, we weren't of much help," Morgana apologized as she went to her table and pulled out a purple flower out of the vase,"Give this to Arthur and don't tell him it was from me _or_ Gwen"

"Sure," Merlin replied, taking the small flower gently and left, shutting the door behind him.

Morgana watched as the door closed behind Merlin.

"Do you think Merlin might actually be falling for Arthur?" Morgana thought out loud.

"Why would you think that?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"The way he looks at Arthur kind of gives it away," Morgana noted,"And the fact that Merlin got very upset over Arthur saying noone loves him"

"Because he fears that Arthur doesn't feel the same way about him..." Gwen trailed off,"...And when Arthur said no one loved him, it felt like Arthur was directly rejecting him thus stabbing him in the chest"

"That's right," Morgana said in excitement,"Looks like we're going to play role of setting Arthur and Merlin together"

While Morgana and Gwen were starting the plans of setting the prat prince and his idiotic manservant up, Merlin was having serious trouble trying to explain something.

* * *

Merlin cursed under his breath as Arthur continued to ask him a load full a questions about where the flower came from. '_I can't tell him that it's from Morgana or Gwen!_' Merlin thought miserably as he and Arthur stalked through the forest.

"Pass the bow and arrow," Arthur whispered, gesturing Merlin to pass him the equipment.

Merlin stumbled towards Arthur quietly, that is until he tripped over some tree root sticking out of the ground.

"Merlin you idiot, now look what you've done!" Arthur shouted irritably, pointing at the deer which was currently running away.

"Sorry," muttered Merlin while Arthur walked away further into the forest, obviously looking for more poor innocent animals to catch.

Still muttering under his breath Merlin ran towards Arthur trying to keep up.

"Arthur! Wait up!" Merlin shouted.

Then Arthur froze, letting Merlin crash into him.

"Oww... Why did you stop?" Merlin groaned looking at Arthur.

"I never knew there was a lake here," Arthur whispered suddenly, still standing there.

Moving beside Arthur, Merlin found himself staring at lake, it was small but not tiny, flowers flourished near the banks and the crystal blue water sparkled in the sunlight. Merlin stared and stared and stared, until Arthur smacked him on the head, hard.

"How long are you going to stare aimlessly?" Arthur asked, jogging to the blue water.

Merlin sat down on the lush green grass, dropping his equipment and sighed happily. '_It's great to be able to relax_' Merlin commented in his head.

"Hey! I'm going for a swim!," Arthur called out,"You want to join me?!"

"Sure," Merlin replied, running towards Arthur.

When Merlin reached Arthur, Arthur had already stripped himself down to his breeches. Heat started to rise as Merlin gazed at Arthur's torso.

"Are you going to swim or not?" Arthur smirked, going into the water,"Or are too amazed by my appearance?"

Merlin's blush deepened. '_Do I have fever?_' he pondered, putting his hand on his forehead '_Or is just really hot here?_'. He then stripped himself down to his own breeches and stepped into the cool water, and swam towards Arthur who was diving in and out of the water. When Merlin reached Arthur, Arthur had disappeared on him, he panicked thinking that Arthur was drowning. Suddenly, he felt someones hand grab his right leg and pulled him down into the water. It was Arthur. He smiled at Merlin and swam away, gesturing Merlin to follow. He lead Merlin through the schools of fish that were swimming past and stopped in front of an opening in between a pile of rocks. He held Merlin's hand and pulled him inside. Merlin's eye's explored his surroundings. There were many colourful fish swimming around and hiding behind the dark grey rocks, underwater plants tall and short swayed beside each other, and the sunlight shone above them. Merlin felt that he couldn't stay underwater any longer, pulled away from Arthur's grip and quickly swam to the surface.

"Hah!" Merlin inhaled loudly through his mouth when he reached the surface. '_That was wonderful... There were so many fis--- _'

"There's one more thing I want to show you," Arthur breathed interrupting Merlin's thoughts, and appeared in front of him.

Before Merlin could respond Arthur had already grabbed hold of Merlin's hand and dragged him down into the wonderful blue water again. This time Arthur pulled him towards a small cave. It was pitch black inside the cave. Merlin squeezed Arthur's hand in alarm as they continued to swim forward into the darkness. '_I can't see a thing..._' Merlin thought nervously. But much to Merlin's dismay Arthur let go of his hand and left him in the dark unknown. '_Arthur! Arthur! Where_ _are you?!_' Merlin screamed in his mind, he started to feel his surroundings. Nothing. There was nothing there. It was like being in the middle of nowhere, but worse. Much, much worse. Merlin began to panic, waving his arms, hoping he might hit something. He didn't hit anything, and to make matters worse he couldn't hold his breath any longer. He swam up towards the surface, if there was a surface... Fortunately there was, and Arthur was sitting there obviously waiting for him.

"What took you so long?" Arthur asked concerned," I thought you were drowning"

"I was about to you prat!" Merlin retorted, swimming towards Arthur, when he reached Arthur he lifted himself out the water and sat beside Arthur.

"Let's look around," pausing, Arthur then added,"And I'm not letting go this time"

Grabbing Merlin's hand again Arthur stood up lifting Merlin up with him and practically dragged Merlin along.

"It doesn't seem like we're looking around," Merlin realized," Where are you taking me?!"

"You'll see," Arthur answered.

As Arthur and Merlin continued walk (well, Merlin stumbled) further into the dry cave. Merlin started to shiver, it becoming colder as they went further in.

"It's freezing in here," Merlin whined.

"I know," Arthur replied dryly, rolling his eyes,"Just bear with it"

Before Merlin could argue back, Arthur had already pulled him forward and proceeded their little walk while Merlin was muttering about a prat.

"Rather than complaining about the temperature in here, how about you look at your surroundings?" Arthur suggested, turning around,"Don't you think this place is magnificent?" he smiled.

Merlin finally noticed the blue lights hanging from the ceilings. Merlin looked further and noticed more blue lights, it felt like he was standing underneath the stars.

"Oh my god..." Merlin whispered in awe,"This place is beautiful..."

"I know," Arthur said, loving Merlin's reaction. It was so feminine in a way.

"I thought you never knew this place even existed," Merlin queried,"You seem to know this place like those glow worms"

"You calling me glow worm now?!" Arthur said in surprize,"Before you use to call me a prat, now you think I'm a... glow worm...?"

Merlin chuckled, watching Arthur rant about how he is **not** a tiny, fat, squishy and bright glow worm. This was like heaven to Merlin, he got to be Arthur alone under the 'stars'.

"You know, about Gwen," whispered Arthur,"You think she gave me the flower?"

Merlin couldn't believe his ears. Arthur had brought up Gwen, the woman that Arthur was convinced he was in _love_ with and the fact that he brought her up at a time like this made Merlin very_ very_ upset. Not sure why Merlin didn't answer his question, Arthur was becoming uncomfortable in the sudden silence.

"A-hem," Arthur fake coughed to get Merlin's attention,"Do you think so?"

"Oh, of course!" Merlin answered unconsciously, returning to reality.

Arthur was not stupid, he knew Merlin. Merlin wasn't a very _good_ liar, doubt he ever will be and Merlin would never stare into space like that, unless something was seriously bothering him...

"Is something bothering you?" Arthur asked in complete concern.

"N-No, nothing's bothering me," Merlin lied.

Sighing heavily Arthur didn't want to argue with Merlin and obviously Merlin doesn't seem to want to tell him about his problems.

"Hey, let's keep this place a secret between us," Arthur locked eyes with Merlin,"You promise you won't tell anyone about this place?"

"I promise," Merlin barley whispered, still gazing into Arthur's eyes.

Pulling apart their gazes, embarrassed Arthur mumbled,"I think we should go now"

Merlin nodded, still hand in hand with Arthur, he let himself get lead through the glowing blue glow worms and back into the dark cool water. Merlin held onto Arthur's hand tightly as they swam through the darkness and into the light. The water was as blue as the sky and it made Merlin feel like he was flying.

When Arthur and Merlin made it to land, they quickly put their clothes back on and it wasn't very comfortable (wet underwear underneath clothes, not comfortable...)

"Hurry up Merlin!" Arthur demanded, picking up the bow and arrow for Merlin.

"Done!" Merlin ran up to Arthur and took the bow and arrow from Arthur's hands.

As they silently walked through the dense forest, Arthur spotted a doe and motioned Merlin to give him the bow and arrow. Merlin hesitated but ended up giving the equipment anyway. Unfortunately, the doe got shot and landed in a thud. Arthur ordered Merlin to check if the doe is dead. Merlin went towards the suffering doe and started to stroke her neck gently, calming her down. Merlin had to look away when Arthur put the doe out of it's misery, but by doing that he notice a terrified fawn hiding behind the bushes. '_Oh no..._' Merlin thought sadly. He slowly tip toed towards the frightened fawn, and began whispering soft reassuring words.

"It's OK, I'm not going to hurt you," Merlin whispered softly as he moved closer to the fawn.

The fawn was about to make a run for it. Merlin knew the fawn would have nowhere to go, it would die without it's mother. Closer and closer. The fawn was now frightened to death. It bolted. Jumped out of the bushes, and crashed into Arthur along the way. Arthur picked up the fawn while it was shaking in fear.

"Well, what do we have here?" Arthur chuckled as the deer struggled to free itself.

"Please don't hurt it!" Merlin begged,"We just killed it's mother!"

"I wasn't going to hurt it in the first place," Arthur noted.

Merlin sighed in relief, Arthur just rolled his eyes dramatically at this. The fawn gave up freeing itself and started to relax in Arthur's arms and soon it started to fall into a peaceful slumber...

"Can we take it back to the castle?" Merlin asked,"It'll die out here, especially without it's mother"

"You can keep it, but I can't, father would kill it before you could say no," Arthur explained.

Merlin nodded in agreement, softly lifting the fawn into his arms while Arthur roughly picked up it's mother's corpse.

"What should we name her?" Merlin asked quietly as they continued their walk back home.

"Her?" Arthur questioned,"Did you already check?"

"Y-Yes," Merlin replied, blushing in embarrassment," Anyway... What should we name her?" Merlin repeated.

"How about Cara?" Arthur suggested,"Meaning beloved"

"It's perfect," agreed Merlin as he stroked Cara lovingly.

Arthur chuckled as he shifted the deer corpse into more comfortable position to carry, he was ready to run.

"Last one to the castle is a rotten egg!" Arthur challenged childishly,"And you can't say you can't run because Cara is in your arms!"

"W-What. Hey wait up!!" Merlin called after Arthur, sprinting as fast a he could, towards Camelot castle.

* * *

Gwen was busily running around the whole castle searching for Gaius. She gave up on searching and went back to Gaius's room to check if he returned from collecting herbs. Seeing he was not there Gwen welcomed herself inside, pulled out a chair and sat there waiting, but she was becoming bored. She scanned the room trying to find something she could use for entertainment, and her eyes landed inside Merlin's room. '_Merlin usually has something interesting..._' Gwen thought. She silently tip toed towards Merlin's room, opened the door and the first thing she found was a scroll.

"Things Merlin must get and deliver," Gwen read out loud as she scanned the whole list,"Morgana could use this..."

Gwen secretly rolled up the scroll and hid it inside one of her dress pockets and quietly yet quickly left the room.

"What were doing in Merlin's room?"

Gwen froze, turned around and came face to face with a very suspicious Gaius.

"I was searching for you," Gwen answered truthfully.

"Then why were you in Merlin's room?" Gaius asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I was wondering if Merlin knew where you were..." Gwen lied, hoping Gaius would fall for it. Luckily for her, he did and he handed her the medicine for Morgana's nightmares. Thanking him, Gwen left the room and sprinted to Morgana's room, excited about her discovery.

SLAM!

"Why do people keep slamming my door?! It's going to break soon you know!" Morgana complained in frustration as she sat there drinking something that looks like tea **(A/N I'm not sure if people back then even had tea...)**.

"I'm sorry, my lady," Gwen apologized,"I found something interesting and it seems I got a bit excited about it..."

Morgana dramatically stood up from her chair, placed her cup of tea down and gestured Gwen to show her. Gwen pulled out the scroll and explained a plan she had just thought of.

"That's brilliant!" Morgana complimented,"We should convince Merlin give Arthur everything from this list! Including a bouquet of flowers!"

Gwen smile widely, proud of her discovery and plan. Morgana strutted towards the window and began chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Gwen asked, peering over Morgana's shoulder," Oh..."

From the window Gwen saw Arthur and Merlin panting, both carrying a deer. They were laughing hysterically as they walked to the castle. Gwen could help but smile at this adorable scene.

"Although they don't realize it, they act like a married couple," Morgana pointed out chuckling.

Nodding quickly, Gwen decided she would go talk to Merlin and convince him to give everything on the list to Arthur. Excusing herself from her mistress's room, Gwen power-walked to Merlin, who was just outside the corridors.

"Oh, hey Gwen," Merlin greeted happily," What bring you here?"

"Hi," Gwen greeted back, then started to proceed the plan,"Umm... You know the scroll you left behind?"

"Yeah, wait... How did you know I had that?" Merlin asked in surprise.

"Oh! Ummm... I-I was searching for Gaius and... And I found the scroll on the floor, yeah I found it on the floor!" Gwen babbled, praying that he would believe her, well half of it was true though.

"Ok..." Merlin wasn't very sure if he should believe her, but then again, this is Gwen! The nicest person he has ever met (besides his mother of course), she wouldn't lie... Would she?

Seeing Gwen's pleading face Merlin decided to believe her. Gwen relaxed '_Thank god... He believed me_' Gwen thanked inwardly.

"Well, you see, I need to ask a favor of you," Gwen said nervously.

"Sure! What do you want me to do?" Merlin smiled, obviously very glad to be able to help.

"Can you give Arthur everything on the list?" Gwen asked, clapping her hands together begging.

"But none of them are for Arthur they're for the guest coming for the feast next week," Merlin explained, he had already given Arthur _everything_ he had, so why give him more? Besides Arthur is rich, he could get all the things on the list if he wanted to. So why the heck would Arthur want something from the list from someone poor like _him_?

"_Please_..." Gwen begged. '_Oh god, she's making puppy eyes now!_' Merlin pondered, trying to push away the temptation to help Gwen but failed.

"Sure..." Merlin answered unwillingly. '_Great! Me and my pathetic brain!_' Merlin groaned in his mind, regretting answering Gwen's question.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Gwen thanked happily as she jumped up and down in excitement,"Remember that I owe you for this!"

After all that, Gwen left Merlin. With nothing to do, Merlin strolled back to Arthur's chamber, whistling happily as he made it to the princes room. Opening the door without knocking, Merlin stumbled inside and found Arthur sitting by the fire writing something. Arthur smiled at whatever he had done. Merlin stayed still, not wanting to ruin the peaceful atmosphere that the prince was in. That was until Arthur read out what he wrote.

"_Dear Guinevere_," Arthur began, not noticing Merlin,"_I would like to tell you that I am convinced that I am in love with you, I know this is sudden but I have been wondering if you would like to meet me at a very special place that no one knows about... Love Arthur_"

Arthur checked the letter again, wondering if it was good enough. After several checks, Arthur finally decided it was perfect and was about to set of to Gwen's home, until he turned around to find Merlin crying by the door.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Merlin peered at Arthur through teary eyes and ended up sobbing harder, leaving Arthur completely helpless.

"I-I d-on't know w-why," Merlin stuttered through sobs.

Completely forgetting about the letter, Arthur guided Merlin towards his favourite chair by the fire, trying to cheer Merlin up by making jokes and funny faces. But none of them worked. Until suddenly Cara the fawn jumped from under the bed and pranced around Arthur. Cara sensed Merlin was hurting, she guessed Arthur was the cause and nipped Arthur's rear end causing him to squeal and jump up made Merlin laugh hysterically. Glad to see her (from now on) owner happy again, Cara pranced back under the bed, head held high.

"I swear! That deer's evil!" Arthur retorted, blushing from the fact that he squealed in front of his manservant.

"Ha ha ha, That just made my day!" laughed Merlin.

"Shut up! Now that your happy again, why don't you go back to Gaius," Arthur suggested.

Merlin paled. '_I forgot about that..._' Merlin looked like he was about ask Arthur about something but concluded with a bright red blush.

"I-I was kicked out," Merlin managed to say,"Iwashopingif youwouldletmestayovernight..." Merlin mumbled quickly.

"You want to stay in my room overnight?" Arthur managed to pick up. Merlin nodded in pure embarrassment.

"Sure, at least you won't be late tomorrow morning," Merlin smiled, happy that Arthur was able to help him.

Now the problem was _where_ to sleep...

**I'm sorry if there was any horrible grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes. I tried my best in this (this is my very first fanfic), but I will continue writing...^^**


	2. Morgana's plans and Arthur's thoughts

Sighing miserably, Merlin woke up in the middle of the night with a headache and a sore back. '_Arthur must have kicked me out of the bed..._' Merlin thought in annoyance as he got up and _tried_ to get back into the bed, but Arthur was hogging practically the entire bed.

"Prat..." Merlin retorted quietly, pushing Arthur carefully to the side and slid back into the soft warm sheets of the bed.

Merlin admitted that Arthur was kind. Kind enough to let him sleep in same bed with the prince, even if Arthur did accidentally push him off the bed. With all those thoughts in his head Merlin fell into a deep sleep, but he did have a dream...

_The Dream_

_The whole scenery was pure white. Nothing was there, it was just plain white. Merlin saw two figures slowly walked towards him. One figure was tall seemed to be well built and male, the other was shorter and more feminine. Merlin strolled towards them to greet them. Suddenly they started to fade as Merlin came closer, he was close enough to recognize their faces... It was Arthur and Gwen... _

_Merlin's heart nearly stopped as he watched the couple fade away. _

_"You love him that much?" came a soft high-pitched voice willed with sympathy._

_Merlin jumped up in surprise and yelled,"Who's there?!" but no-one was there, until the high-pitched voice came again._

_"Hey! Down here!" the high-pitched voice shouted,"It's me! Cara!"_

_"Cara?!" Merlin said in total amazement, still unable to find her._

_"Can you see me now?" Cara asked irritatedly as she jumped onto something invisible. Now they were standing face to face._

_"First a talking dragon, now a talking deer..." Merlin mumbled,"The dragon was bad enough..."_

_"I can hear you, you know," Cara noted, rolling her eyes," Anyway, back to original question"_

_"I'm not answering it!" Merlin rebelled, folding his arms in front of his chest._

_"Then can you answer these questions then?" Cara pushed._

_"As long as they don't include romance," said Merlin._

_"Sure," Cara smirked,"There will only be three question OK?"_

_"OK" agreed Merlin._

_"Right then! First question, do you blush in front of Arthur?" Cara asked._

_"That's a romance question!" Merlin glared at Cara,"So I'm not answering that"_

_"Blushing doesn't necessarily mean it's going to lead to romance," explained Cara calmly," You can blush for many reasons"_

_"But this is Arthur, we're talking about! The one and only person I really really..." Merlin trialled off, becoming frightened at what he was about to say._

_"Like? Love?" Cara finished off smirking," You can deny it but you can't deny it forever though, you'll soon admit it sooner or later"_

_Merlin knew this fact better than anyone would, but he also knew that he was the best secret keeper, no-one has found out that he was a warlock, and he wanted it to stay that way until the right time comes. But this time it's about keeping emotions hidden and things like emotions isn't something anyone can easily control... Lost in his thoughts, Merlin didn't notice Cara trotting away, leaving a small note behind._

_"Why are you sure that I like Arthur?!" Merlin questioned," Cara? Cara?"_

_Searching around his white surroundings for the little fawn, he heard the sound of scrunching paper. Merlin dropped down onto his the floor and picked up the note. _

_"When did a deer learn how to write?" Merlin muttered in amazement,"Till we meet again young warlock! If you need anymore help go ask the dragon, from Cara..." Merlin read out loud. _

_Merlin started to hear a distant voice and then ------_

"Wake up already!" Arthur yelled impatiently as he shook Merlin violently,"How long do you plan to sleep?!"

"5 more minutes," Merlin mumbled sleepily, eyes still fully closed.

"Oh my god... WAKE UP YOU USELESS IDIOTIC MANSERVANT!!" Arthur demanded angrily,"OR DO YOU _WANT _BE IN THE STOCKS!!!"

Merlin was fully awake now. Arthur smirked at this, he could use this threat more often...

"Alright, alright!" Merlin groaned, sitting up,"Oh, your dressed"

Merlin couldn't help but laugh out loud. Arthur obviously didn't know anything about fashion. Because he was wearing a light green top with purple strips hanging from his shoulders, brown pants and red jacket. He looked like a Christmas tree. Arthur had no idea what Merlin was laughing at, he twisted around to see if the mischievous deer was behind him. She wasn't, she was still sleeping peacefully under his bed, ears flicking back and forth as if she was having a funny dream. Arthur didn't want to guess anymore, turned to Merlin and glared.

"What's so funny?" Arthur growled, moving closer to Merlin so he intimidate him.

"Are you going to wear that outside?" Merlin hinted still laughing.

Arthur went red in the face as he looked at what he was wearing. Merlin smirked, jumping out of the warmth of the bed, he went towards the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of dark blue pants, a creamy white button up shirt, and a imperial purple sleeveless jacket.

"Don't you think this would be _much_ better to wear outdoors?" Merlin said smugly, holding up the clothes so Arthur could have a good look.

"Oh, shut up Merlin!" snapped Arthur as he grabbed his clothes from Merlin's hands.

Merlin laughed, loving the fact that the prince admitted defeat. Arthur glared at him again and turned around to change. Letting his brown jacket slide off his back, Arthur was about to take off his shirt, turning around Arthur checked if Merlin had his own back turned. Staring. Merlin was staring at him like he was some magnificent piece of artwork.

"A-hem," Arthur coughed, grabbing Merlin's attention,"I would like to change _without_ someone staring at me!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Merlin apologized, blushing madly as he hesitantly turned away.

'_I can believe I just sat there and stared! And I actually wanted to look!_' Merlin sighed angrily at himself.

Tug, Tug...

Merlin felt something pulling the ends of his pants, looking down, he came face to face with Cara. Smiling widely, Cara pranced towards Arthur, who was now changing into his pants, and kicked out her hind legs at Arthur's legs, causing him tumble forwards. Merlin saw the entire thing and admitted, Cara had guts.

"That. God. Damned. Deer!" bellowed Arthur as he pushed himself up,"Merlin, I order you to tame that bloody deer!" Arthur yelled angrily.

"Her name is Cara, remember?" Merlin reminded,"You were one who named her"

"I swear, I gave her the wrong name..." muttered Arthur, pulling up his dark blue pants.

"You love her, just admit it," smiled Merlin as he went to pick up the clothes that Arthur had tossed onto the floor.

Cara looked up at a very infuriated Arthur and gave him her very best puppy dog eyes **(A/N I can't call it baby deer eyes, that would sound weird...)**. Arthur couldn't help but to rub her back gently and smile at her. After being forgiven Cara went towards Merlin, who was about to pick the last item of clothing, until Cara used her teeth and picked it up for him, handing it over to him.

'_Just admit it, you like him'_. Merlin froze, wide eyed. '_You know telepathy?_' asked Merlin in his head, opening the wardrobe and carefully hung Arthur's clothes inside. '_Of course! And stop changing the subject!_' replied Cara's high-pitched voice filled with annoyance as she trotted over to Arthur's bed and pulled the sheet's into place.

"Looks like you got a little helper, _Mer_lin," noted Arthur," I think she does things better than _you_ do"

"Ha ha, very funny," said Merlin sarcastically, going over to help Cara fluffing up the pillows.

Slipping into his boots, Arthur told Merlin that he was going to attend a meeting with his father and when he comes back he expects food on his table. After he left, Merlin had finished tidying Arthur's room, with a little help from Cara. '_I'm bored... Can we go out and play?!_' Cara whined loudly in Merlin's head. '_Sure_' Merlin agreed, moving from the bed to the door and pushed the door open.

"Firstly, I want you to meet my friends," Merlin told Cara, while waiting for a reply. '_Sure, no problem_' Cara replied, nodding her head in approval as Merlin led her to Morgana's chamber.

* * *

Morgana was sitting by the window, thinking. She had a nightmare again, and it was terrifying! There was blood . Blood everywhere. Headless bodies hanging from ropes covered in blood. Houses burnt all the way to the ground. Morgana shuddered, when she remembered every detail. She knew very well why she has these dreams. She knew she was a seer, but decided to not tell anyone, fearing that Uther would execute her if he knew.

Knock, knock.

"Come in," Morgana called out, snapping out of her thoughts.

Gwen stepped in quietly. She looked like she was glowing, her facial expression showed one thing, and that was happiness.

"Well, don't you look joyful today?" Gwen's smile broadened at the comment.

"Lancelot came back today!" Gwen exclaimed in excitement, jumping up and down on the stop. She was like a child who has found her favourite toy.

Morgana grinned knowingly. She knew Gwen was in love with Lancelot, it was so obvious that even Merlin knew it. There was one problem though... Arthur... Morgana recently found out that Arthur was in love with Gwen. Well, Arthur thought he was, the bloody idiot was so convinced in his _love_ for Gwen that he was blindly torturing Merlin. Morgana felt sorry for the boy, and decided that she would help by making Arthur realize his true feelings...

"You OK?" asked Gwen in a worried tone, her whole expression changed.

This is what Morgana liked about Gwen. Gwen was very honest, her expression changes depending on the mood, and she releases a motherly aura, full of understanding, wisdom, and kindness.

"I'm fine," reassured Morgana," Weren't we talking about Lancelot?" Morgana smirked, noticing the faint blush appearing on Gwen's cheeks.

"Y-Yes, we were," said Gwen happily,"He said he wanted to see me! And I think he has something to tell me..."

Morgana chuckled at Gwen's curious face. '_I'm guessing she's hoping Lancelot would ask her for marriage_' Morgana bursted out laughing, imaging Gwen's reaction if Lancelot did propose. Gwen blushed, wondering if she had said something wrong.

"Did I say something funny?" Gwen asked,

"No, I, just imaged something..." replied Morgana, calming down.

Knock, knock

Gwen immediately straightened up, thinking it was Lancelot who walked into the room. Morgana smiled at the person and gave him or her permission to enter. Gwen's chest was pounding until....

"Good morning," came Merlin's cheerful voice,"I have someone who would like to meet you"

Hunching her back a little in disappointment, Gwen turned around and put on her best cheerful smile and greeted Merlin. Morgana chuckled, figuring that her maidservant was pretty disappointed.

"Who's this person you want us to meet?" asked Morgana in curiosity.

Merlin stepped to the side, revealing a shy fawn, standing by the doorway. Morgana and Gwen squealed in excitement, bolting towards the baby deer.

"Her name's Cara," introduced Merlin proudly,"Arthur named her"

"Then he definitely named her correctly!" Morgana praised,"He did something right for once!"

"She's so cute!" Gwen exclaimed, cuddling Cara gently,"Where did you find her?"

"In the forest... We killed her mother," Merlin explained sadly as he picked Cara up and rested her in his arms, where she could calm down.

Gwen quickly apologized for the bringing up the subject and helped her mistress stand up.

"Did you know Lancelot came back today?" Morgana remembered, breaking the tension,"I think he might to meet Cara too"

Nodding in agreement, Merlin left quietly with Cara dozing in his arms. Morgana stood there staring at the door, thinking to herself again, but this time about Merlin and Arthur. She and Gwen still haven't thought of anything that would draw them to get closer. Sighing, she knew Arthur would _never _ever believe Merlin would have liked him _that_ way, and Merlin might forget to give the gifts to Arthur or be too stubborn to confess.

"Do you think the plan is full proof?" asked Morgana, still staring and the door.

"I-I really don't know my lady," admitted Gwen, she realized she never actually thought about whether it would _actually _work.

Strutting to her draw, Morgana took out some blank sheets of paper, found a quill and a little bottle of ink by her makeup desk **(A/N Did they have make-up?)**, she then placed them on the other table. Pushing everything away, giving her some room, she sat down and began dipping the quill into the ink.

"What should we start on?" Morgana asked, concentrating hard as she rested her head onto her palm,"We need someone to help us with this"

"Maybe we need some_thing_ to help us," suggested Gwen, pulling out the chair on the opposite side from Morgana and sat down,"What thing is the closest thing to Merlin?"

"That would probably be Cara..." answered Morgana, realizing where Gwen heading in the conversation," Have I ever told you were a genius?"

"No, but thank you," Gwen smiled brightly at Morgana,"I think we should use Cara"

"But will Cara help us?" Morgana asked slowly, writing down everything she considered would be useful,"She is a deer after all"

"Yeah, but we could always tame her," suggested Gwen, tapping her fingers on the table,"It could take a long time though..."

"How about we ask someone else to tame?" suggested Morgana,"A more experienced person maybe?"

"And where would we find a person like that?" questioned Gwen as she took a sheet of paper out of the pile next to Morgana, and started to make a paper aeroplane.

"Lancelot," Morgana smirked. Lancelot was a peasant, so he probably looked after animals and Gwen would spend more time with him if did this job.

All this seemed perfect to Morgana. Lancelot the deer tamer, Guinevere the researcher and Morgana the cupid. The only thing they needed now was Cara, but Morgana was not sure if Cara would want to leave Merlin's side. Placing the quill down, Morgana slid the sheet of plans towards Gwen and waited for her reply.

"So what do you think?" Morgana asked, while Gwen continued to scan through the writing. This is what it said.

_**Lancelot is deer tamer, Gwen is researcher and I am cupid.**_

_**How to get Cara to help us:**_

_**1. Ask Merlin if we could play with her.**_

_**2. If he says no, we kidnap Cara.**_

_**3. Kidnapping doesn't work? Then we bribe her. Put a line of treats which leads to my room...**_

_**4. Bribing fails. We move onto our most dangerous plan. We threaten Merlin. **_

_**5. If I get chased by Arthur for threatening Merlin. Gwen will be able to stop him.**_

_**6. If NONE of them work... Well, we beg.**_

_**If we manage to get Cara to help us:**_

_**1. Treat her like royalty, so she would stay.**_

_**2. Lancelot will be given a timetable of the times when he needs to train Cara.**_

_**3. Gwen will follow Merlin around for any interesting information. **_

_**4. If Merlin doesn't give Arthur his gifts from the list. Cara will do it for him. Every present will have Merlin's name on it. So there will be no guessing.**_

_**5. We all have to convince Merlin to confess to Arthur or make Arthur realize his real feelings and confess to Merlin.**_

_**If everything works out? WE CELEBRATE!!!**_

_**If we fail and Merlin and Arthur find out we were behind all this? We run!**_

"We run?" Gwen asked, raising her eyebrow,"Where will we run to?"

"Well what do you suggest?" challenged Morgana, crossing her arms in front of her chest, leaning against the back of her chair.

"G-Good point," Gwen admitted stuttering, handing the sheet back to Morgana,"So proceed with what we've got?"

"Yes, but first we should ask Lancelot whether he wants to join," said Morgana calmly, as she stood up and strutted towards the door, with Gwen behind her.

* * *

Lancelot was out in the open grass, sword fighting an imaginary opponent. Swinging his sword for the final blow, Lancelot slashed through the air, panting and sweating from the workout. Dropping to the ground, Lancelot lay there in the cool moist grass that wetting his white cotton shirt, his sword lying beside him.

"Hah!" breathed Lancelot as he layed there, staring at the two birds gliding in the light grey sky,"I wonder what Gwen's up to?"

Sitting up, Lancelot picked up his sword and struggled to stand back up, he had been working too hard. Stabbing his sword into the dense soil he pushed himself up, but nearly ended up tumbling back down again until Gwen showed up behind him.

"Woah! Watch out!" Gwen exclaimed, letting Lancelot lean against her shoulder.

"Thanks," mumbled Lancelot in embarrassment, trying to not put too much pressure on Gwen.

"It's alright," Gwen smiled, glancing at Lancelot as they strolled back to the castle.

Waiting impatiently by the castle gates was Morgana, she was tapping her foot on the stone ground. Gwen waved at Morgana with her free hand while Lancelot smiled warmly at her.

"Good day, Sir Lancelot," greeted Morgana as she curtsied in respect.

"You don't have to curtsy you know," Lancelot laughed,"I'm not royalty"

"Yes, very true," Morgana agreed, laughing with him as she lifted his other arm and rested it over her shoulders for more support.

As they strolled to Morgana's room, Morgana let go of Lancelot and strutted towards her door and opened it, gesturing them to go inside. Lancelot, not sure where he was hesitated for a bit, until Gwen gave him a reassuring smile and lead him towards Morgana.

"Don't worry, it's my room," Morgana said, sensing Lancelot's worry.

"Oh..." Lancelot realized,"I didn't know"

Closing the door behind them, Morgana ushered them towards the red cushioned chairs and went to her draw, pulling out the sheet full of plans. Sitting down, Lancelot and Gwen watched as Morgana layed down the sheet in front of them.

"What's this?" Lancelot asked, picking up the sheet of paper, reading it carefully,"You ladies trying to set up Merlin and the _heir_ to the throne? Are you insane?"

"We are not insane!" Morgana and Gwen protested in unison.

"Besides, Merlin is in love with Arthur!" Morgana noted, putting her hands on her hips, eyes narrowing at Lancelot.

"It's true," Gwen said calmly, looking at Lancelot straight in the eyes, indicating that she was definitely **not** lying.

Believing them, Lancelot apologized to Morgana and Gwen for calling them 'insane' and handed the sheet back to Morgana.

"So you want my help?" Lancelot questioned, staring at Morgana, who was standing in front of him.

Both girls nodded their heads quickly. Lancelot sighed, and stood up, alarming Morgana and Gwen, who were hoping Lancelot would agree to help.

"I'll help," Lancelot mumbled loud enough for the girls to hear.

"YES!!" Morgana and Gwen cheered happily as they danced around, which freaked Lancelot out.

"But, what does this Cara look like?" Lancelot shouted over the girls' cheers.

Quietening down, Morgana described Cara's every detail while Gwen added some things every now and then. Lancelot listened carefully like a recorder drinking everything he could hear. After Morgana finished, Gwen thanked Lancelot for agreeing while Lancelot walked out the door, shutting it slowly.

"Well, getting Lancelot to help us wasn't very hard," Morgana said as she dropped onto her bed,"What a busy day"

"Yeah, it was,"Gwen agreed yawning softly, she had never really used her brain that much in one day.

Both girls silently fell into a peaceful slumber...

* * *

Merlin couldn't find Lancelot all day, he searched everywhere. He realized how much time had past and dashed to Arthur's room with Cara in his arms.

"Where were you?" Arthur asked, angrily as Merlin entered the room,"I waited for 1 hour!"

"Sorry," Merlin apologized, placing Cara down on Arthur's bed,"I was looking for Lancelot."

"Oh, Lancelot's back?" Arthur asked in surprise, forgetting to scold Merlin about not bringing food.

'_He knows Gwen likes Lancelot..._' Merlin thought noticing Arthur's envious look. '_Duh, of course he knows, he's not a fool_' Cara's high-pitched voice appeared. '_I thought you were asleep!_' Merlin glared at Cara.

"Why are you glaring at Cara? Surely your not lowly enough to blame a deer?" Arthur said, staring at Merlin intensely.

"No, of course not!" Merlin replied, shocked that Arthur would even_ think_ that! '_Great! Now he thinks I blame innocent creatures!_' Merlin thought irritatedly.

"Good," sighed Arthur in relief,"Can you get me some food? I'm kind of hungry"

Nodding, Merlin left the room, leaving Arthur and Cara alone. Arthur sat down onto his bed and watched Cara sleep. '_Lancelot's back... That means Gwen's going to be with him more often..._' Arthur thought sadly. '_Probably, no-one really knows_' Cara thought sympathetically, hearing Arthur's thoughts. Obviously, Arthur didn't hear Cara and went towards his favourite chair by the fire. Staring at the bright fire that was flicking small sparks every now and then, lost in his thoughts about Gwen and Lancelot. '_Is there no room for Merlin in your heart?_' Cara asked sadly, now she knew why Merlin wouldn't admit that he loved his prince. '_At least __**try**__ noticing his feelings_' Cara whispered quietly inside, she did not want to fail her master. As if Arthur heard her, his thoughts moved to Merlin. He chuckled, remembering the first day he meet Merlin and the way they fought, the way Merlin made him laugh and the way Merlin looked at him... Arthur paused. '_Why does he look at me that way?_' Arthur wondered. He remembered Merlin looking at him that way when they were swimming around in the blue lake. Trying to shake those thoughts away, Arthur moved his thoughts back to Gwen. '_I was wrong to not call you a fool..._' Cara sighed, opening her eyes and got up onto all four legs and pounced of the bed quietly and walked towards Arthur. Nudging Arthur's knee, Cara watched his sad face change into warm smile and began rubbing her head affectionately.

"What's up?" Arthur asked quietly," Are you hungry too?"

'_To be honest, a little_' replied Cara, sitting down beside Arthur. Watching the fire silently. Suddenly Arthur asked a peculiar question.

"If you were human, and you wanted to make two people fall for each other, what would you do?"

'_What would I do? If I knew wouldn't I be trying to hook you and Merlin together?_' Cara replied, knowing Arthur wouldn't hear her anyway. '_Are you trying to set up two people?_'

"I think Gwen and Lancelot make a good couple... Even though I like her, she's already in love with Lancelot, so I can't confess," Arthur whispered, looking like he was at verge of crying,"But they just won't get together and become a couple. Everyday I wait, thinking I just_ might_ have a chance... But even if I do, my father probably wouldn't allow it, considering the fact that she's a servant..."

Cara sat there listening to every single word he was saying. '_Why must this be so complicated?_' Cara sighed again, it really did sound like he was in love with Gwen. This was one complicated love-triangle...

"I'm back," Merlin's voice appeared,"They managed to make apple tarts for you sire"

Snapping back to reality, Arthur answered,"Put it on the table"

Merlin obeyed, placing the plate down onto the mahogany table and walked towards Arthur. '_Don't_' Cara's voice begged in his head '_He's has a lot to think about, let him be_'. Glancing at the blond, Merlin moved away and sat down onto Arthur's bed.

"Did Gaius let you back inside?" Arthur asked, breaking the silence, but the tension was still there.

"No, I haven't seen him all day," replied Merlin,"Can I stay here one more night?"

Arthur didn't reply. He just sat there thinking. Merlin was beginning to worry, Arthur wasn't the type who would go silent like that, Merlin had never seen Arthur think so much. '_What is he thinking about?_' Merlin asked himself. '_Gwen and Lancelot_' Cara mumbled, turning her head, glancing at Merlin and added '_He loves her... That is a fact_' Cara gave him a sympathetic look and turn back to the flickering fire. Merlin stared at Cara, feeling warm tears forming at the corners of his eyes '_I know... I know that better than anyone..._'. Merlin knew this very _very_ well. The way Arthur's eyes sparkled whenever we mention Gwen, how Arthur becomes a soft teddy bear when Gwen needs comforting, the way he spoke about her like he would _die_ without her in his life...

Tears finally slid down Merlin's cheeks. Violently trying to wipe away the tears, Merlin tried to think happy thoughts but more tears formed, he was like crying a waterfall. '_Why, why, is it just me?_' Merlin yelled in his mind '_Alright I admit it, I love Arthur!_' Merlin cried out to Cara. The fawn smiled '_Well, now you must fight_' she said calmly as she went to Merlin and licked his tears away. '_Thank you_' Merlin whispered, patting Cara's back gently. '_No problem_' Cara smiled as she pranced back to Arthur, and nudged his leg with her nose, asking for his attention.

"What is it now?!" Arthur demanded, obviously not liking the fact he was disturbed,"Oh..." Arthur sighed, looking at Cara.

Cara used her mouth to pull Arthur's pants, gesturing him to come. Arthur stood and followed Cara, she lead him to the plate of warm apple tarts. Merlin suddenly appeared beside him. Arthur had nearly forgotten that Merlin was still there.

"I'll let you stay,"Arthur muttered suddenly, as he took a bite of the apple tart.

Merlin stared at him wide eyed.

"Don't stare at me like that! You rather sleep outside in cold?" Arthur snapped, insulted by the fact Merlin would think of him as such an ass.

"N-No, I would rather sleep indoors..." Merlin replied, picking up a tart and stuffed it in his mouth.

Arthur laughed, as he watched Merlin scoff down his tart, nearly choking on it. '_Eat slowly you pig!_' Cara scolded, biting Merlin's bottom, making him choke. Laughing harder, Arthur gave Merlin a cup of water, which Merlin drank down quickly.

"Hah!" Merlin exclaimed, feeling better after the drink,"I thought I was going to die!"

"That won't happen!" Arthur said, picking up the last tart and hand fed Cara with it,"Cause I won't let you die"

Merlin smiled affectionately. Arthur's seemed to be back to his usual self, but Merlin couldn't help but wonder..._ What was Arthur thinking back then?_....

Shaking away the curious thought, Merlin got ready for bed while Arthur went into the bathroom to do his business and Cara hopped back under the bed. When Arthur came out he was already dress in his nightwear, falling onto the bed Arthur slowly felt his eyes drooping and he silently fell asleep. Merlin sighed, Arthur hogged the bed _again_. He pushed Arthur to the side and lay there beside him all night.

** I have no idea how it turned out so sad in Arthur's mind... Probably the song I listened to (Scarlet by Brooke Fraser, you can listen to it if you want). Well, I hope you guys liked it. ^^**


	3. Dragon's riddle and taking action

The sun was shining through the large window of Arthur's room, it's rays shimmered across the two bodies sleeping in the soft, warm covers of the queen-size bed. Groaning softly, Merlin woke up with Arthur's arms wrapped tightly around his waist.

"Wake up, Arthur," Merlin grumbled, trying to pull himself free from Arthur's arms; which were clinging onto him.

"Mmmm..." mumbled Arthur, finally letting go of Merlin's slender waist and rolled over, back facing Merlin.

Smiling gently, Merlin silently got out of the warm covers of the bed and into the bright sunlight. Feeling slightly cold, he quietly but quickly strolled towards the bathroom, and began to get dressed.

Tap, Tap.

'_Good morning_' greeted Cara, who was tapping the bathroom door loudly. '_Oh, morning_' Merlin greeted back as he pulled on his dark sea-blue shirt and slid on his old dirty brown jacket. '_I'm afraid your prince is awake, and is waiting for you_' informed Cara calmly, trotting away pleasantly. When Merlin exited the bathroom, he saw Arthur sitting up on the bed with the red blankets wrapped around himself, protecting him from the cold.

"Do you need anything, sire?" Merlin asked politely, walking to the wardrobe and picked out the warmest clothes he could find.

It was Autumn now, the temperature was becoming cold and the leaves are falling in the colours of the sunset. Throwing the clothes onto the bed, Merlin told Arthur to get out of bed, but of course the prince wouldn't.

"Get out of bed," ordered Merlin, gripping onto the blankets that were enveloping Arthur with warmth,"You can't stay in bed forever"

"Oh, yes I can!" protested Arthur childishly as he pulled the blankets over his head, hiding himself from Merlin and shouted from inside the blankets,"I'm the prince! Your just a servant!"

Merlin rolled his eyes and pulled the blankets swiftly off Arthur. Arthur shivered when the cold air came to contact with his skin and swung his legs of the edge of the bed, sitting up. '_Oh dear God... There's going to be arguing_' Cara sighed,'_Can they be anymore immature?_'. '_I heard that!'_ yelled Merlin in his head and glared at Cara, completely forgetting Arthur was sitting right next to her.

"Your glaring at Cara again," laughed Arthur,"And I thought you loved her like _mother_ and daughter" Arthur joked, feeling his irritation disappear.

"Hey!" Merlin snapped, turning his attention to Arthur,"I'm _not_ a woman!"

"Well, you sure bloody act like one," Arthur remarked coolly, smirking at a extremely red faced Merlin.

"Then your the _father_!" Merlin retorted in Arthur's face as he moved a bit closer to the prince.

Everything went silent. Arthur was standing there in shock, and that's when Merlin realized what he had said and shut his big mouth quickly. He wanted to fall into a pit hole right now. '_Wow, I didn't know you were that desperate_' said Cara as she glanced at Arthur's reaction, and it was not pretty... '_I-It wasn't meant to sound like that..._' stuttered Merlin, breathing heavily from anxiety.

"There is absolutely_ no_ way I'm going to _your _husband!" Arthur remarked in disgust, sliding away from Merlin on the bed.

"Well, I don't want a husband as arrogant as you!" Merlin yelled, feeling insulted and hurt by Arthur's comment.

"Don't you dare raise your voice at me!" Arthur threatened, getting of the bed and stomped towards Merlin,"You are talking to the prince here!"

"But that is the truth!" Merlin pointed out yelling, fear and anger could be seen in his deep blue eyes. '_Hey, be careful_' Cara warned nervously '_He looks like he's about to burst. One more insult you'll have a missing head_'.

Cara was right, Arthur's icy blue eyes flared in anger as he moved closer to Merlin. Before Arthur could do any harm Merlin darted towards the door and quickly exited, slamming the door shut. Cara laughed inwardly, glancing at a fuming and shocked Arthur. '_There will more things that will shock him the future_' Cara thought in amusement, jumping of the bed, she dragged the clothes that Merlin had thrown onto the bed to Arthur. '_Here, you'll catch a cold. It must suck to be mostly fur-less_' Cara offered, nudging Arthur's knee until he took the clothes from her.

"Thanks," Arthur muttered softly as he got dressed," Am I really that arrogant?"

Cara stared at Arthur and answered with a small nod, as if saying 'yes'. '_Your can be blind sometimes too_' noted Cara, even though she knew Arthur couldn't hear her. When Arthur was dressed, he went to his draw and pulled out something that looking like rope that was dyed red. Turning to Cara he gestured her to come, but she didn't, Cara had a _very_ bad feeling about the rope and there was _no_ way she was going near it. Arthur sighed, and tried again, this time he used soft words, whistles and of course motions, but Cara wouldn't budge.

"It's just a rope Cara!" Arthur reassured, dropping the rope as if showing her that the object won't attack her in any way. '_I know it's harmless. That is, until it's in the wrong hands..._' thought Cara suspiciously, taking a step backwards.

Arthur gave up trying to make Cara come to him. So, he slowly went towards her, still holding the rope in his hands. Cara began to panic, her senses seemed to scream out 'DANGER, DANGER!' and her first instinct was--- to run. Cara bolted for it, leaping like she had springs under her feet, she lept over to the other side of the room and stayed there, ears laid back, eyes glaring. Arthur raised his eyebrow at Cara's reaction and swiftly and quickly slid towards her, ready to catch her with the red rope until....

Knock, Knock.

Pausing, Arthur called out,"You may come in"

The person who stepped in was Morgana, she looked mysteriously happy as she greeted Arthur. Arthur greeted back and asked why she was here, she replied that she need borrow Cara for the day. Sulking, Arthur unwillingly handed Cara over, he wanted to take Cara out for a walk but of course, Morgana just _had_ to come in at the wrong time. Morgana thanked Arthur and left the room with Cara while Arthur decided to go find Merlin and left straight afterwards.

* * *

Gwen was waiting for Lancelot and Morgana just outside the castle in the dense forest. Some of the trees were loosing their leaves, so the ground surrounding Gwen was practically covered with red. yellow and orange dry leaves, but the pine trees did not shed any leaves and stood there tall and green.

Sighing softly in impatients, Gwen began to pace around in the rain of leaves and kept looking back at the castle, wondering what her mistress was doing and why she was taking so long.

Crunch, crunch.

"Hey, Gwen," called Lancelot's deep voice as he walked over towards Gwen, crushing the dry leaves underneath his feet,"Where's Morgana? She should be here"

"I don't know where she is," Gwen answered in a worried tone,"Maybe Merlin wouldn't let go of Cara"

Afterwards, Lancelot and Gwen just waited in silence. Becoming restless, Lancelot kept fidgeting, shifting and glancing at Gwen as if he wanted to tell her something while Gwen was tired of standing and sat down by the nearest tree, she noticed Lancelot's constant glances at her and she was becoming as nervous as he was.

"So... How's things going?" asked Lancelot as he strolled towards Gwen,"With you and Arthur I mean"

"There's nothing between me and Arthur," Gwen said in amazement,"You know Merlin loves Arthur, I don't plan to hurt him, I never will, and besides I _absolutely _don't have any feelings for Arthur!"

Hearing this Lancelot automatically sighed in relief,"And I thought you two were an item..." he mumbled, sitting beside Gwen and pulled a necklace out.

The necklace was made of gold and silver, there was a rather large gem hanging at the bottom, Gwen guessed it was sapphire because of the dark blue colour. Gesturing Gwen to turn around, Lancelot grinned as he out on the necklace on her.

"I-It's beautiful," Gwen praised, admiring the sparkling gem,"Where did you get all the money? It must have been expensive"

"It was," replied Lancelot, loving Gwen's reaction,"I worked hard and saved up my money just to by you a present"

"Thank you," Gwen said happily, as she leaned onto Lancelot's shoulder.

"Well, well, well," came a very _very_ amused voice,"I'm sorry, but I will have to interrupt you lovebirds"

The pair blushed deeply, realizing Morgana was standing in front of them with a very distressed deer. Lancelot guessed it must of been Cara, and tried to calm her down. Cara snapped at him, bearing her teeth showing she was aggressive right now and it was best not to go near her. '_I can't belive it! I have been kidnapped!_' Cara cried out '_And that royal fool let me get kidnapped!!_'. Hearing this Morgana laughed '_Could a deer get anymore scared? We need your help_'. Wide-eyed, Cara stared up at Morgana, surprised by the fact that she could telepathically communicate with her. '_You know magic_' Cara stated '_You, the king's ward, knows magic when the king hates it?_'. Morgana grinned smugly and replied '_No, I don't know magic. I am a seer, I'm born with it_'. Turning her attention to the pair in front of her, Morgana lightly pushed Cara towards Lancelot.

"Whoa! Whoa! I think it will bite!" Lancelot exclaimed, standing up quickly.

"Lancelot, your a knight _and_ a man, so act like one!" Morgana laughed,"Your meant to be the deer tamer too. What use is a deer tamer if he's afraid of a deer?"

"My lady's right, Lancelot you agreed to this," Gwen reminded calmly, reaching out to pat Cara's back gently.

Lancelot had never been this embarrassed in his life! First, he was seen weak and needed a woman's help, now he is running away from a deer, a _baby_ deer. Kicking himself mentally, Lancelot ordered himself '_Get it together Lance! Your a man, so be the man!_'. Cara was laughing hysterically, even her face showed complete amusement '_Yes, be the man, Lance!_' she cheered on.

"So how do I start then?" Lancelot asked, staring at me with confusion in his eyes,"I've never trained a deer before"

"You'll think of something," was the girls reassuring advice.

Lancelot couldn't help but to glare at them and mumbled something that sounded like a sarcastic 'great'. Cara watched Lancelot as he sigh in annoyance '_What are they up to?_' she pondered. '_Well, we're trying to hook Arthur and Merlin up, seeing that Merlin's very fond of you, we thought you would be useful. I'll show my plans later_' Morgana answered, not even taking a glance at Cara. '_You said you were a seer, then wouldn't already know what's about to happen?_' Cara questioned. '_But I don't control my dreams and most of the time I picture terrifying things, like death_' Morgana explained, shuddering when she remembered the nightmare she had yesterday,'_I don't usually see any pleasant future, and I too usually wonder why_'. Cara nodded, understanding every single word Morgana was telling her '_I also want to set up Arthur and Merlin, I think I will be rather useful in your plans_' Cara whispered, remembering Arthur's words from last night, she looked at the dark-skinned girl that sitting under the tree in front of her and mumbled '_That must be Gwen_'. Morgana looked at Cara and said in concerned tone '_Apparently Arthur says he's in love with my maidservant, because of this he has become blind. If your wondering about Gwen's feeling's towards him, well just look her right now_'. Cara did as Morgana asked and watched as Lancelot came towards Gwen whispered something in her ear, making her blush and laugh sweetly. '_So... This is an unrequited love again isn't it?_' Cara sighed, turning around to face Morgana '_It is Arthur who is going to have a broken heart then? Not Merlin_'. Morgana scoffed '_He never did __**love**__ Gwen, he was just so convinced that he forgot about Merlin!_'. '_If only the world could be as simple as you see it... But God just had to make it complicated _' Cara sighed again as she walked past Morgana and towards the castle. '_You are wise for a young one_' Morgana remarked, following Cara back, '_I could learn a great deal from you_'. Cara just thanked her and smiled.

"Hey! You two lovebirds still flirting with each other?! Cause Cara and I are going back now!" Morgana called out as she continued her walk.

"W-Wait up!" the pair yelled and ran after them.

'_Things are going to be interesting..._' thought Cara and Morgana in amusement.

* * *

Merlin was standing in front of Gaius's room. He had already knocked on the door several times but didn't get any reply. Becoming bored and frustrated, Merlin stormed off to Arthur's chamber, hoping he was there. '_Where's Cara when I need her?_' thought Merlin in annoyance as he passed other servants that were rushing about. At Arthur's chamber, Merlin didn't even bother to knock and barged straight in, but found no-one there. Disappointed, Merlin was about to exit the door, until his eyes landed on a folded piece of paper on the floor. Picking the paper up, Merlin scanned through it and he realized it was the confession letter that Arthur wrote for Gwen, he probably dropped it when he saw Merlin cry. '_I think I'll be keeping this_' Merlin thought, quietly slipping the letter in his pocket and silently left the room.

"I wonder where Arthur is?" Merlin thought out loud, jogging to Morgana's room, hoping the king's ward would know where his prince went.

When he made it to Morgana's room, there was nobody inside. Cursing under his breath, Merlin left Morgana's room and decided to go search for Arthur. '_I'll check the stables, maybe Arthur took his horse out for exercise_' Merlin suggested in his mind, sprinting to the stables.

At the stables, Arthur's horse was missing, so Merlin went out to the fields where Arthur would exercise his horse. Sure enough, Merlin found Arthur on his snow-white stallion, guiding him around in circles and made the stallion walk, trot, canter and gallop when Arthur wanted him to. Merlin watched quietly as Arthur got off his stallion and came Merlin's way.

"Merlin! I was looking for you everywhere!" Arthur called out, as he strolled to Merlin,"Where were you?"

"I was at Gaius's but he was not there," Merlin told Arthur,"You don't seem to be looking for me"

"Well, I was but I gave up ages ago" Arthur said calmly, then he whistled and took an apple out of his pocket, telling the stallion to come.

The stallion seemed to understand and trotted over, taking a bite from the apple when he reached Arthur. Chuckling lightly, Arthur let go of the apple, grabbed the stallion's reins and lead him back to the stables, while Merlin followed quietly.

"What's the stallion's name?" Merlin asked in curiosity, patting the stallion gently.

"Proud, his name is Proud," Arthur answered, not even taking a glance at Merlin.

At the stables Arthur and Merlin left Proud to the stable boy and headed to Gaius's room. As they passed by the scurrying servant all bowed or curtsied and greeted Arthur, because of this they had to continue stopping and Merlin was becoming impatient.

"Can we hurry? Otherwise I'm going ahead of you," Merlin told Arthur irritatedly, as _another _servant greeted Arthur and bowed. '_Since when did the servants respect him this much?_' wondered Merlin.

"No, your not leaving me behind, I have something to say to Gaius anyway," Arthur said in a serious tone, catching up to Merlin.

"He isn't around a lot recently. I wonder where he went?" Merlin thought a loud, nearly tripping over his own feet.

"Watch it! My God your clumsy!" Arthur stated as he lifted Merlin back onto his feet,"I think Gaius is out probably picking herbs"

"No, picking herbs shouldn't take that long," Merlin said,"Especially when it is a professional like Gaius, he would have found the right herb within seconds"

"Well, he is getting old and being old has it's many disadvantages," Arthur explained,"Like loosing your eyesight and your slow on your feet and your in more risk of making a small injury into a _huge_ problem"

"You seem to know a lot about old people, Arthur, maybe your an old man in disguise" Merlin joked.

"That has got to be _the lamest_ joke I have _ever_heard," Arthur remarked, hitting Merlin on the head lightly,"And no, I'm not an old man in disguise. It's just my father who's old, and he practically teaches me everything"

"Now I see why you act like an old man," kidded Merlin,"Father like son"

"Merlin! Be careful of what you say about the king!" Arthur warned, staring at Merlin coldly.

Merlin zipped his mouth shut, nodding as if saying 'OK' and proceed walking. In the silence Merlin wondered what life would be like if he was a woman and shivered at the image of himself with long flowing hair and a crimson red dress that fell all the way to the floor, to him, he looked horrible, like a male transvestite. '_Eww, eww, Merlin stop thinking about that!_' Merlin ordered himself, but the images kept coming and then he started to imagine how life would be like with Arthur if he was female. He imaged Arthur falling for female Merlin_ instead_ of Gwen, but imaging this made Merlin miserable, because this meant he had no chance as the _male_ Merlin, nothing was going the way he wanted...

Finally at Gaius's room, Merlin knocked on the door and waited a second for a reply. No reply. Merlin became anxious, he hadn't seen Gaius since the day he got kicked out. Arthur looked a bit troubled, continuiously tapping his foot on the stone floor.

"Where is he?" Arthur mumbled,"Maybe he _is_ out picking herbs"

"So, this means I'm still sleeping over at your room?" asked Merlin, hoping Arthur would say yes, because he didn't want to sleep outside in the cold - at all.

"Duh, where else are you going to sleep?" Arthur replied as if the answer was very obvious,"Or you were thinking of sleeping outside?" Arthur added jokingly.

"N-No, there is _no_way I'm sleeping outside!" Merlin remarked, leaving Gaius's chamber and nearly tumbled over a broom that was leaning on the wall.

"This is the second time I saved you from falling," Arthur stated smugly as he pulled Merlin back onto his feet,"You should be ashamed to be called a man"

"Well I guess, I'm a different _type_ of man then," Merlin noted, laughing softly, remembering the image he had not long ago. '_I'm ashamed to __**be**__a man!_' Merlin thought sadly to himself.

"That is very very true," Arthur agreed as he continued to walk, dragging Merlin's hand with him.

As they strolled silently through the halls, Arthur took a glance at Merlin and noticed how pale Merlin was, his cherry blossom pink lips, dark long eyelashes and the beautiful deep blue eyes that always watched his prince. Arthur shivered, trying to shake away the disturbing thoughts that was about to appear. Noticing Arthur's shiver, Merlin put his hand on Arthur's shoulder to calm him down and smiled.

"What's wrong?" Merlin asked, taking his hand off Arthur's shoulder.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Arthur lied as he tried to avoid staring at Merlin's mouth and eyes.

Raising his eyebrow, Merlin decided to believe Arthur and returned looking forward again. Arthur sighed in relief '_Thank god, I thought I was about to die in embarrassment_' thought Arthur.

"Hey..." Merlin trailed off, looking at the ground, trying to hide a deep red blush.

"What?" Arthur asked in curiosity, noticing the red blush on Merlin's pale cheeks becoming redder by the second.

"Well... IfIwasagirl whatwouldyouthinkofme?" Merlin mumbled quickly, taking a little glance at Arthur.

"Umm... What?" Arthur said hopelessly, completely confused,"You spoke _way_ too fast, can you repeat it slowly?"

"I-If I w-was a-a g-irl w-what w-would y-you t-think o-of m-me?" Merlin stuttered, feeling more warm blood at his cheeks.

"If _you_ were a _girl_?" repeated Arthur in surprise,"I would avoid you at all costs"

"Oh..." Merlin mumbled in disappointment.

Realizing his words might have hurt Merlin, Arthur quickly added,"But you would have been one of the most beautiful women here"

Merlin's face lit up like a flickering fire when he heard Arthur's comment. Grinning, Arthur was relieved that his manservant was no longer upset. But there was always _one_ question that popped into Arthur's head.

'_Why am I so nice to him?_'

* * *

At the dungeons, Cara silently walked through the gloomy cells, until she reached the dragon's lair. Carefully jumping on one step down to another, Cara cautiously investigated her surrounding, making sure there were no guards stalking her. '_Good, no-one's following me_' Cara mumbled, as she proceeded jumping down the stairs.

At the end of the flight of stairs, Cara telepathically called out '_Philip! Philip! Where are you, old man!_'.

"Who dares to call me an old man! Especially when I was peacefully having a good nap?!" roared the dragon as he appeared from the looming large boulders above the dark grey stone cave.

'_Me, you fool. You can't tell? Even with this high-pitched voice?!_' Cara retorted, glaring at Philip (the dragon),'_You really are getting old..._'

"Be careful in what you say, child," Philip warned,"Why are you here? What do you need?"

'_I need to know how to make Arthur move on from Gwen,_' Cara told Philip,'_Morgana has a plan, but I don't what we're going to do if we fail. I've got the most important job... I don't to let them down_' explained Cara as she looked at Philip in the eye, showing the she was very serious.

Sighing in annoyance, Philip gave her a riddle as an answer...

"_Your answer lies in the heart._

_Do what you think is right but don't go too far._

_Let others do the work and go with the flow,_

_For that it is faster because time will be against you,_

_Earlier, one will run,_

_Later, one will leave._

_Everything rests in time..._"

"If you need anymore help, go figure it out yourself," added Philip, flapping his large wings creating a harsh wind as he took off back into the dark looming boulders. '_Everything rests in time, eh_' Cara thought,'_Can't be early or late... So when is the good time then? Time is going to the most difficult obstacle we're going to have..._'

Leaving the dragon's lair, Cara hurried up the stairs and quickly and quietly galloped through cells and guards.

Outside the prison area, Morgana, Gwen and Lancelot were waiting for Cara in anxiety.

"You think she's OK?" Gwen asked fidgeting with the ends of her sleeves,"I hope she's alright"

"I think I failed as the role of the deer _tamer_," Lancelot muttered under his breath, leaning against a wall.

"Let's not be negative here, Cara is not a stupid animal!" Morgana remarked,"She'll probably appear out of nowhere soon enough"

'_BOO!_'

"AAH!" shrieked Morgana, jumping up in fright. '_Scared you!_' Cara grinned at Morgana cheekily while Morgana was beet red from embarrassment and anger.

"Cara! Don't scare me like that!" snapped Morgana,"You planning to give me a heart attack?!"

"Umm... I don't think Cara can understand you, my lady," Gwen and Lancelot said politely, pulling a very _very_ angry Morgana away from Cara.

"We are very glad that your back safe and sound," Gwen smiled as she held her mistress tight,"It's good to know that the dragon didn't eat you"

'_Che, he would dare eat me,_' Cara thought smugly as she nudged Lancelot's leg motioning him to go.

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" Lancelot whined in annoyance,"Could my life get more difficult?"

Rolling their eyes, the three females pushed past Lancelot, while Gwen grabbed his hand and forced him to come, ignoring his loud, childish whining. '_Such a child..._' Morgana and Cara sighed in unison, deciding to leave the struggling pair behind.

'_So, what did the dragon say?_' asked Morgana, looking at Cara in curiosity,'_Anything useful?_'. Shaking her head, Cara mumbled back,'_He gave me advice, but it was like riddles, I get it but it's hard to do it exactly the riddle says_'. Morgana sighed in annoyance, nothing is as easy as it seems, there is still other problems to solve afterwards, success or not. '_What did the riddle say?_' Morgana asked, lifting her scarlet-red dress slightly up so she could go up the flight of stairs that led to top floor, where her room was. Concentrating hard, Cara finally remembered the full riddle,'_Your answer lies in the heart. Do what you think is right but don't go too far. Let the others do the work and go with the flow, for it is faster because time will be against you. Earlier, one will run, later, one will leave. Everything rest's in time..._' repeated Cara,'_I understand it, but it's hard to do everything exactly on the right time, and __**when**__ is the right moment?_'. Morgana thought about this carefully, she had never felt quite so hopeless,'_I have no idea... Maybe it'll come as we go with the flow, just like it says in the riddle_' she suggested, opening the large wooden door, and entered her room with Cara trotting behind her. '_I'm beginning to despise the word __**maybe**__, it makes you feel so insecure and makes you wonder way too much!_' grumbled Cara as she settled herself down on Morgana's soft blue bed and stared out the window in boredom and wonder. Sitting down on one of the wooden chairs near her bed, Morgana pulled out the scroll that Gwen found and remembered the idea that her maidservant thought of. '_Merlin may not end up giving any of the gifts on the list, besides that it seem that he and Arthur had both completely forgotten about it..._' Morgana muttered, realizing the Romans are coming to Camelot next week. The feast had been cancelled the day before because of some weather problems in Rome **(A/N Sorry, I didn't mention this before)**. Until, she thought of an idea, and to her, it was a pretty good one. '_Hey Cara, I have an idea and it includes you being the cupid_' Morgana told Cara in excitement. '_What's the idea then?_' Cara questioned, turning around to face Morgana. '_Well, I thought I would buy these gifts that are on this list here and sign everything with Merlin's name!_' Morgana began, her eyes twinkling like a child who had found some cute toy. '_And what do I do?_' Cara asked. '_You deliver the gifts. Since your close to Merlin and Arthur you could deliver the gifts to Arthur. No one can do this job, cause it won't be believable if any __**person**__ did it!_' Morgana explained,'_Especially if it was me or Gwen, and Lancelot has to pretend to be able to tame you. It's an excuse to bring you here without Merlin protesting._' Nodding as if she understood, Cara smiled, this could actually work!

Knock, knock.

"Come in," Morgana called out, watching a stranger enter her room after he interrupted her conversation with Cara," What is it that you want?"

"Nothing my lady, absolutely nothing," he said, bowing down in respect, then straight up again and smiled," I'm new here, and while exploring Camelot, I heard that there was this beautiful maiden called Morgana le Fay that lived here in the castle as the king's ward. So, here I am, talking to the beautiful maiden of Camelot"

"Why, thank you for the flattering compliment, but I warn you I am _not_ interested in relationships or marriage right now, and if you by any chance force me to be in a relationship with you I will personally send you to the depths of _hell,_" threatened Morgana, still sitting on her chair with her arms crossed.

Hearing this threat, the man backed away and quietly excused himself, shutting the door behind him. '_Wow, that's harsh_,' Cara noted, laughing at the man's reaction when Morgana threatened him,'_I think the world needs more strong women like you_'. Morgana smiled widely at the compliment and thanked Cara. '_I think I'll go now. I'll give you any information about Merlin and Arthur if you need it_,' Cara offered as she jumped off the bed and pranced off towards the door, jumping up to turn the knob and exited the room, leaving Morgana alone.

Both of them had one thought in their minds. '_So, this is the beginning of action..._'

**I've been banned from the computer from Monday - Thursday, this is horrible. Sigh. Oh well, I hoped you liked this chapter. ^^**


	4. Vera O'Sullivan

Dancing in the misty forest, a young girl was twirling around in silent circles and was chanting a silent spell as she twirled. Slowly the girl came to a stop, opening her dark leaf green eyes that seemed to shimmer in the rays of sunlight, her snow-white skin wet with sweat, her hazelnut coloured hair fluttered in the light cool breeze and her dark emerald green ankle length dress softly followed the direction of the blowing wind. Then, everything stopped. She whispered coldly:

"I will be coming... Arthur Pendragon...."

With a sudden thrash of the wind, sprinkling dead leaves, the girl vanished leaving a large mark on the ground that looked like a large eye with Arthur's name engraved in the pupil...

* * *

"AAH!" screamed Morgana, panting as she sat up on her bed, staring out the window in fear and caution. She had another nightmare - no, a vision of the future. It was the same one that she had a day ago, the one with blood and bodies. This time though, there was a woman, standing there, raising her hand and chanted a spell and then ---

"My lady! Are you alright?!" Morgana's maidservant rushed to her side and took a handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped Morgana's sweaty face gently,"Was it another nightmare?"

Nodding quickly, Morgana mumbled something that sounded like an apology. Gwen couldn't bring herself to smile, worry rained over her. Gwen thought she was already use to Morgana's sudden cries of help and screams of warning, but obviously the maidservant wasn't and she was becoming curious. Why did her mistress have these nightmares every night? Gwen knew very well that all of Morgana's dreams come true, but why? Surely it can't be magic...right? With all those thoughts in Gwen's mind she had forgotten that Morgana was sitting on her bed still staring out the clear, cold window into the gloomy wilderness outside.

"Was it the same nightmare you had the day before?" Gwen asked, slipping the hankerchief back into her pocket.

"Yes, it was..." Morgana replied solemnly as she tore her eyes from the window, looking at Gwen,"But this time, there was a woman, she was chanting a spell and then everything just disappeared --- Vanished..."

As Morgana said this, she began shivering, her eyes showed fear, shock, and anger. Whispering words of comfort, Gwen gently helped Morgana lie back down and began humming a soft lullaby. Drifting into a dreamless deep slumber, Morgana finally closed her eyes and went into the world of darkness. Watching the sheets go up and down slowly, Gwen silently stood up and tiptoed out of the room, leaving her mistress sleeping soundly near the arched window with the moon shining down on her...

* * *

Lying awake in the middle of the night, Arthur unconsciously gazed at Merlin's sleeping face, thinking about what he had said yesterday. Why did he say Merlin would be a beautiful woman? If it was between normal men, this would have a disgusting topic, but it didn't feel disgusting at all... And shouldn't he be in love with Gwen? So why is he thinking about Merlin so much?

"Urrgh!" Arthur groaned in annoyance, lifting his hand into his blond hair messing it up as if trying to get rid of the awkward thoughts. '_What's wrong with me?!_' Arthur shouted in his head.

Getting out of the bed and into the cold air, Arthur stretched out his arms out and went through his large wardrobe, searching for something warm to wear into the cold Autumn atmosphere outside. Finding a dark indigo blue woolly jumper, a pair of long chestnut brown pants and some woolly socks from the draw Arthur was ready to take a stroll into the chilly outdoors.

"Hah!" Arthur gasped, hitting the cold air as he continued to walk into the known yet unknown world of the darkness.

There were no lights to help Arthur see. Feeling vulnerable, Arthur was beginning to regret going outside, he was now wishing he was back in his warm bed covers lying next to the warmth of his manservant. '_Why did it have to turn out like this? I didn't even bring my bloody sword!_' Arthur cursed in his mind as he roamed around the castle aimlessly.

"You shouldn't wonder around the castle in the dark young lad," came the voice of a woman with a thick Irish accent,"You could get hurt..."

"I flattered, that you would worry about a mere stranger, but I have been born to defend myself," reassure Arthur politely, turning around to face the woman.

The woman seemed to be the same age as Arthur was, she was just a head shorter, hazelnut coloured hair, snow-white skin and those piercing leaf-green eyes. She was wearing a long white nightgown that glowed in the pitch black background, a big golden heart-shaped locket hung from a long strand of black rope was around her slender neck and she was shoeless, so her feet were scratched, bleeding and looked incredibly sore.

Noticing Arthur's wince slightly, the woman asked,"What's wrong? Are you cold?"

"No, I'm fine..." Arthur mumbled, ripping his eyes away from the petite woman's scratched feet and then added,"I think I should take you inside. You need to have some ointment on those sore feet of yours"

"Oh..." the woman looked down to her feet and blushed in embarrassment,"I'm sorry, I ran away from home and I forgot to bring some emergency shoes with me... The other pair fell into the river will I was trying to cross the border."

"Well, I'm sure there's always another pair of shoes in the castle," Arthur offered, motioning her to come with him into the castle,"We'll see the court physician tomorrow morning"

"Thank you," the woman thanked as she stumbled beside Arthur in the dark," I believe we didn't introduce ourselves yet"

"Yes, I apologize for my rudeness," Arthur said,"My name is Arthur Pendragon, I'm the prince of Camelot, and I'm twenty-three years old, single"

"Well, I'm Vera O'Sullivan daughter of the well known artist Ealadha O'Sullivan, and I am twenty years old, engaged to a man I do not wish to marry," introduced the Irish woman as she and Arthur reached the entrance into the castle.

"Vera... What an interesting name for an Irish woman," Arthur mumbled, opening the door and let Vera get inside first.

"My mother is a Russian lass," Vera stated, following Arthur through the long dark corridors, the only source of light was the glimmer of the silver crescent moon shining through the large windows,"My mother named me"

"I see you love your mother very much," Arthur said, smiling at Vera lovingly,"Your face shows everything"

Blinking in shock, Vera immediately went scarlet red and looked away, trying to hide her blush. Chuckling lightly, Arthur wondered, '_Vera, eh? I'm pretty sure Morgana would love her_'. Vera whispered something that sounded a lot like 'where am I going to sleep?' and stared at Arthur, waiting for an answer. Pondering for a moment, Arthur scanned through every spare bedroom in the castle that was safest in his head.

Ding! The light bulb appears.

"There's a spare room next to my chamber, you can sleep there if you want," Arthur offered, suddenly sharply turning right into another corridor, but this one had no windows and had glowing red torches lit on the stone walls.

When they reached the room Vera thanked Arthur for his hospitality and entered the room gracefully and froze. My goodness... Vera had never seen a room as big and grand as this one; there was a queen-size bed, with deep sea-blue covers and two soft white pillows resting lightly on the bed; next to the bed was a oak wood draw, on top of the draw was a candle that seemed to be unused for quite some time and there was a large dusty ancient book sitting next to the candle; the walls were made of cold hard limestone, where the a big bookshelf leaned on.

"Wow..." Vera breathed, amazed by her surroundings.

"Too grand for you?" Arthur laughed,"My manservant will bring you an extra set of clothes. I don't know how long you have been wearing that dress"

"Two months, I think," Vera replied, lifting the ends of the pure white, untainted nightgown,"It looks clean though..."

"You'll never know," Arthur stated, yawning loudly.

"True, true," nodded Vera in agreement.

"Well, goodnight then"

"Goodnight"

* * *

The birds were singing happily in the chilly Autumn morning sky, the trees all lost their last sunset leaf and are standing tall, dark and naked in the cold. Sitting by the window daydreaming, the blond prince was interrupted by his skinny manservant, who woke up late and nearly trampled over their little fawn.

"Go away," Arthur grumbled, shooing Merlin away as he continued gazing out the window.

"But Arthur, Uther wants to see you!" Merlin persisted, ranting about what would happen to him if Arthur didn't go.

"Just tell him that I have a headache and can't attend!" Arthur ordered irritatedly,"You have a brain! So use it!"

"B-But"

"No buts!" Arthur demanded, angrily this time as he heard his manservant's loud stomping footsteps to the door, and a loud SLAM that woke his female guest from last night.

Stepping inside quietly without knocking, Vera went up to Arthur and asked what was wrong. Arthur didn't reply and just stared out the window in a trance. Sighing softly, Vera left Arthur in la la land for a moment and went to get some things. Returning from where ever she went, Vera appeared by Arthur's side and 1...2...3...

CLANG!

"What the fuck was that for?!" Arthur yelled, covering his ears in pain glaring at Vera.

"You were in _la la land _so I, being an Irish lass, had to wake ya up," explained Vera, holding up a metal plate hanging from a string and a metal pole.

"I'm pretty sure Irish women don't like that," Arthur said.

"Ya sure? Well, I'm pretty you have never been to Ireland, lad," Vera smiled smugly,"Anyways, you seem to be in a depressing mood, what is wrong?"

"I didn't get enough sleep..." Arthur replied,"I woke up really early..."

"I see..." was all Vera managed to say, then she remembered something. "Then who was that angry lad? Who stomped out of ya room?"

"Merlin, my manservant," Arthur answered moving away from the window frame and towards the well-made bed, bending over to see if Cara was still underneath the bed sleeping. She was there, but not sleeping. Cara crawled out from under the bed and pushed herself up to a proud standing position. Ignoring Vera, Cara pranced past her towards the bathroom and while she was prancing past she glared at the pale woman standing there in confusion.

'_Who are you? What do you want with the prince?_' Cara questioned suspiciously, waiting for a reply. '_Revenge...._' Vera whispered, her leaf-green eyes flashed with blind hatred as she stared at Cara and smirked...Wickedly. '_I will have my way..._' Vera sounded confident, so confident that she sent shivers down Cara's spine.

"I think I shall leave now," Vera told Arthur as she went, leaving Arthur and Cara.

"Why do people all seem to be ditching me?"

'_Oh, I have absolutely no idea..._'

* * *

Gwen was helping the laundry maids hang up the washing; it was a pretty hard task, especially when there is strong wind and the clothes keep flying around wildly like a flock of crazy ducks.

"Hey girl! Catch that runaway shirt! It's royalty!" shouted a panicking old lady as she waved her arms about frantically, trying to catch the shirt.

"Here you go," Gwen handed the shirt that she just caught to the old lady. The old lady smiled pleasantly, thanking Gwen and skipped merrily away. '_What an odd old lady..._' Gwen chuckled in her mind as she picked up the now empty washing basket and carried it back inside.

"Good morning, young lass"

Spinning around, Gwen came face to face with Vera and accidental dropped the basket as she jumped in surprise. Bending down, Vera picked up the washing basket for Gwen and grinned.

"Vera O'Sullivan," introduced Vera, shaking Gwen's hand,"Nice to meet you"

"Guinevere Leodegrance, but most people call me Gwen," Gwen introduced back,"Nice to meet you too"

"So... Where are you heading?" Vera asked, following Gwen towards the laundry room. It was a small chilly room with at least ten women scrubbing away by the wooden buckets of soapy cold water. Even in a place where cleaning is done, the girls could still smell the foul scent of sweat, manure and blood in the pile of unwashed clothes.

"Excuse me, I'm back with the basket," sounded Gwen, putting the basket beside the laundry maid and excused herself, with Vera eagerly leaving, happy to be out the horrible stench.

Running after Gwen, Vera wondered where this servant was going this time. Gwen noticed Vera following her, and wasn't very happy about this, but being Gwen, she let Vera catch up and started a conversation with her newly found friend.

"So, you're new here aren't you?" Gwen asked,"Where are you staying?"

"Yeah, I'm new here and I'm staying in the castle," Vera replied, kicking a small stone on the ground.

"Prince Arthur let you in?" Gwen asked, flicking a strand of hair out of her dark chocolate eyes as a cool breeze started to blow.

"Yes, met him last night, he was taking a stroll," Vera giggle at the memory of Arthur the 'gentleman' and then returned to concentrating on kicking the stone forward.

Smiling softly, Gwen proceeded walking and stopped in front of a big brown door. Knocking on it, Gwen asked for permission to come inside and turned the golden doorknob, opening the door with a creak. Vera peered over Gwen's shoulder, noticing a large bed by an arched window with a beautiful young woman sitting on it.

"Why hello there," greeted the blue eyed beauty as she stood and strutted towards them," You brought an interesting friend Gwen"

"Yes my lady, her name is Vera," Gwen introduced for Vera, giving her a light push on the back,"We met at the laundry area"

Vera stared at Morgana, she swore in her mind. '_Speak Vera! Speak! Oh damn!_' Vera cursed, putting her hand on her throat and rubbed it simultaneously until she got her voice back on track.

"Sorry, I seemed to have lost my voice just then," Vera coughed,"I was shocked by your beauty, my lady," added Vera truthfully as she curtsied gracefully.

Morgana laughed at Vera's compliment, the king's ward has been called beautiful many times before but never had anyone become speechless like Vera did. Motioning them inside, Morgana introduced herself making Vera twice as shocked and amazed. '_You kidding me?! I'm talking to the king's ward?!_' Vera screamed in her mind, she thought Morgana would have been nobility but she never knew the beauty was actually _royalty_! Watching the other two women laugh hysterically at her innocent reaction, Vera felt warm blood flush into her cheeks again...

"It's not _that_ funny!" Vera whined, these are the days when she hated her skin colour,"I wish I wasn't pale..." Vera muttered grumpily.

"S-Sorry, but you should of seen your face, you looked like monkey!" Morgana cracked up, nearly falling to the ground. '_The beauty is so immature..._' Vera thought venomously, not noticing Gwen, who saw the cold death glare Vera gave to her mistress and frowned.

Finally calming down, Morgana fanned herself with her hand, crawled over her bed and roughly pushed the window open, letting the cool wind travel inside, blowing against Morgana's fine features as she did so. Paper's began to float into the spacious air as the wind attacked them, pushing them in different directions. It was like standing in a flock of square doves, some pure, some tainted...

"This feels better," Morgana exclaimed, feeling the wind fluttering against her flawless pale skin and travelling through her long, wavy, chocolate brown hair.

A gush of envy rushed through Vera's veins, as she realized how beautiful Morgana was. Gwen noticed all of this, becoming cautious, she went over to Morgana and shut the window in her face. The sheets of paper fell to the floor when the wind got locked out and Vera went up to the girls trampling over the scattered sheets of paper. Morgana sensed Vera's aura. It was dark, evil, manipulating and mysterious. Gwen shrank behind Morgana in fright while Morgana crouched on the bed, arms spread protectively and stared coldly at Vera.

"What do think your doing?" Morgana hissed,"What's your _real_ purpose here?"

"Ha ha ha, my real _purpose_?" Vera cackled and smirked,"You should know Morgana le Fay... Or is your magic getting rusty?"

"Magic? What magic?" Gwen asked cluelessly,"You have magic?"

"Yes, I do..." Morgana whispered, guilt clouded in her grey-blue eyes,"I'm sorry, I didn't tell you earlier..."

"Awwww.... You didn't tell your best friend? Some friend you are!" Vera sneered, as she moved closer to Morgana and Gwen, intimidating them severely.

Growling at Vera, Morgana stood her ground and then suddenly she screamed.

"HELP!! SOMEONE"S TRYING TO MURDER US!!"

Taking a step back in alert, Vera dashed out of the room, leaving Morgana and Gwen shaking in fear. Guards came crashing in asking what happened.

"What happened, my lady?" asked on of the guards in a concerned tone.

Morgana and Gwen remained still and silent, staring out the door like they just seen a ghost. The guard waved his hand in front of their faces, and shook their shoulders roughly.

"HELLO?!" shouted the guard as Morgana finally snapped back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, nothing, false alarm," apologized Morgana, shaking Gwen awake, murmuring her maidservant's name.

Since it was a false alarm, the guards exited the room and went back to their daily routine. Morgana and Gwen looked at each other in fear. Why did Vera suddenly snap? Where did she come from? And what does she want? Morgana decided to ask Cara since Vera was brought in by Arthur. Morgana had a very bad feeling about Vera O'Sullivan....

* * *

Arthur and Merlin were out hunting, again... Merlin was complaining childishly while Arthur just rolled his eyes and drew his bow and arrow and Fling! The arrow shot through the air piercing a lonely rabbit that was happily nibbling on some fresh grass until the arrow went though its petite head. Merlin covered his eyes from the horrible scene and took a peek afterwards. Arthur sighed, picking the rabbit corpse up and ordered Merlin to carry it.

"Merlin! Stop looking at me like I'm some evil monster!" Arthur demanded,"Besides, don't you eat meat?!"

"I do, but I don't like watching innocent creatures die!" Merlin argued, glaring at Arthur with a You-Will-Never-Understand look.

"Your such a girl," Arthur remarked, jumping over a large tree root that was sticking out of the moist ground.

When they reached the gates of the castle, Arthur noticed some smugged footprints among the sunset ground which lead all the way from the direction of Morgana's chamber and into Gwen's empty house. Becoming suspicious, Arthur investigated the footprint. It belonged to a woman. Not sure whether this was Gwen returning home or an imposter, Arthur followed the trailed with Merlin wondering behind him.

"Are sure it's a uninvited guest?" Merlin asked, staring at Gwen's bearly stable house,"It might just be Gwen"

"It never hurts to take a look for ourselves," Arthur replied, creeping towards the door and slowly opened it.

"Who's there?" came a petrified voice.

"Vera?" Arthur exclaimed in surprise, opening the door fully, giving Merlin a full view of the suspect,"What on earth are you doing in Guinevere's room, sneaking around like that?"

"Oh, umm..." Vera was lost for words, despretely scanning the room for an escape route she then lied,"I was getting something for Gwen"

Believing her, Arthur sighed in relief, he didn't want to arrest a guest of his but Merlin, however, didn't believe a single word and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. '_You know magic don't you? I can sense it_' Merlin muttered in alert. '_Why yes I do. Your smarter than I thought, Emrys..._' Vera replied, impressed that Merlin found out so quickly. '_Emrys again..._' Merlin grumbled,'_That druid boy called me that._'

"Merlin? You still there?" Arthur whispered, his baby-blue eyes showed concern as he repeated the word 'hello' simultaneously.

"Not anymore," answered Merlin calmly, grabbing Arthur's annoying hand that was still waving in front of his face.

Suddenly Vera popped out from inside the house and appeared behind them, scaring the shit out of them (well, Arthur wouldn't admit he got scared). Merlin took a step back as if saying 'personal bubble here' and glared at her. Vera introduced herself for the fourth time and shook Merlin's hand, but Merlin immediately pulled away.

"Why are ya so shy, lad?" Vera asked laughing half-heartedly,"Afraid of a young lady like me, my, my..."

Arthur laughed loudly at the comment and slapped Merlin's back in a friendly way nearly making Merlin fall. Since nothing odd was happening, Arthur walked back towards the castle, Vera followed him with Merlin catching up, still holding the dead rabbit and heavy bow and arrow.

'_Everything is going as intended..._' Vera smirked as she entered the stone castle with the prince...

* * *

Cara galloped through the slippery hallway, her hooves weren't made for newly waxed wooden floors and it made sending a urgent message difficult.

'_S-Shit,_' cursed Cara, dodging the stone wall by a inch and proceeded her small voyage to Morgana's room.

Crashing into the wooden entrance of Morgana's room, Cara bucked the door until Morgana came rushing to the door and swung it open. Realizing that her impatient guest was Cara, Morgana quickly invited her in and frantically told Cara about what had happened with her and Gwen a moment ago. Listening to Morgana speak in a frantic voice filled with fear and worry, Cara's suspicion of the Irish intruder grew and grew.

"She tried to attack us!" Morgana exclaimed,"I have a bad feeling about her!"

'_Same here, she said was here for revenge,_' Cara remembered and shivered at the memory,'_She sounded so confident..._'

"You think she's after Uther?" Morgana asked, she was panicking too much that she couldn't talk telepathically with Cara.

'_Probably, but I think she's aiming for someone else... Most likely Arthur,_' Cara mumbled,'_He was the first person she met when she came here_'

"But Arthur is stronger than she is"

'_Yes, but she knows magic_'

"So your saying Arthur's in danger?!"

'_Both Arthur __**and**__ Merlin are in danger. This is bad! The problem is we don't know who's going to be her victim!_'

"You said it was going to Arthur"

'_Yes, but it seems she is very unpredictable even in her thoughts..._'

"Great! We have three problems to solve now! Making Arthur realizing his feelings for Merlin, when is the perfect time for giving gifts _and _now this bitch appears out of nowhere filled with vengeance!"

'_Could life get any harder?_' Cara whined in her head, bashing her head on the soft mattress of the bed.

Morgana slapped her forehead in annoyance, then went to the draw and pulled out the scroll and the used quil she wrote with yesterday. Ticking the first thing she had to get, Morgana took out something that looked like a diamond bracelet, layed it on the table, ripped a strip of paper, wrote Merlin's name on in and wrapped a strand of string around it and tied it to the bracelet.

"Here, give this to Arthur," Morgana ordered, handing the gift to Cara to deliver.

'_I'll do my job at ease..._' obeyed Cara as she picked up the jewelery with her petite mouth and set of to Arthur's chamber.

Much to Cara's dismay, she found Vera with Arthur in his chamber... Merlin wasn't there, he must have went to get something for Arthur. '_I wonder if Merlin also sensed the evilness of this __**thing**_,' Cara hissed practically spitting the word 'thing'.

Crash!

Snapping out of her thoughts, Cara peered into the room, her eyes become wider and wider. Vera was on top of Arthur on the bed in a very awkward position, plus Merlin stumbled in with some fresh clothes and looked like he was about to burst into tears at what he was seeing. Dropping the clothes, Merlin turned and ran, sobbing violently while Arthur called after him but Vera pulled him back towards her and within seconds he found his lips against Vera's soft, moist ones. Parting for breath, Vera smirked then whispered something in Arthur's ear, then kissed Arthur on lips again and then left him in his room startled.

Cara nearly fainted at the sudden but short scene that just played in front of her, but reminded herself that she was here to give Arthur a present and quietly trotted inside. Arthur didn't realize Cara coming inside and fell onto the bed, sighing loudly. '_W-What the hell just happened?_' pondered Arthur as he rolled around on the bouncy bed, trying to get Vera out of his thoughts. Placing the bracelet on the draw next to the candle, Cara slid herself under the bed and waited for a certain skinny, raven headed, blue eyed young servant boy to enter the room pretending that nothing happened. And he did.

Creeaak....

"Excuse me, sire," Merlin murmured as he stepped inside, his eyes all puffy and red from crying.

"Come in, Merlin," Arthur gestured him to come,"I'm sorry about what happened"

Merlin didn't reply and silently trudged towards Arthur, avoiding eye contact with the prince. Arthur felt a pang of guilt built up in his chest as he watched his manservant trying to shrink himself, sitting up straight he reached out for Merlin's hand and then dragged him towards him, making Merlin fall onto the bed.

"You still going to sleep here tonight right?" Arthur asked, surprising Merlin as he pulled Merlin closer and murmured,"If only you were a woman..."

The two boys found themselves drifting off into the darkness while Cara stayed wide awake. She came out of the bed, stood on her hind legs and blew the candle out and stuffed herself back under the bed with one person in her mind.

'_Vera O'Sullivan..._'

**I thank all the people who reviewed this story! :) You guys give me hope...**


	5. Ygraine's Treasure Room

_**Warning: May contain a bit violence here... **_

**_CHAPTER 5: Ygraine's treasure room _**

There was a small chamber, it was covered in sparkling jewels, gold and silver melted into place, piles and piles of treasure chests and secret scrolls and hidden information. Uther Pendragon stumbled into the chamber, tumbling over a large black box that was sitting in front of the entrance.

"Shit!" cursed Uther slightly slurring. He had been drinking heavily again, since it was Yngraine's death anniversary and his son, Arthur didn't come to her grave this time, much to Uther's dismay, because of some personal issues...

Kicking the box to the side, Uther trudged inside the chamber and sat on an old dusty, unused throne that was slightly smaller than his own. This throne belonged to Ygraine, the one and only woman he loved but forced her to marry him. Now he pays the price of killing the person most important to her. Her first husband, the man _she_ loved so much.

"Oh, Ygraine... Why must you choose him over me?" cried Uther, bowing his head down,"The only memory you left me is our son, Arthur and this treasure room"

'_I hope your happy up there... With __**him**__..._' spat Uther angrily as he slid his hand cross the smooth wooden handle of the throne, and let out weak tears crawling down his aging face. Uther is the man that everyone thought of as a tyrant, a monster, but deep down inside, this tyrant was just an old man who is heart broken, begging the Lord to bring back the one and only back to him again... But of course... Nothing goes the way people wanted.

Uther's thoughts shifted towards his proud son. Never had he been so happy when Arthur was born, but his wife died doing so... There are so many 'buts' in this world. Had he been a good enough father? What had he done wrong, to make everyone despise him? Uther knew the reason, **but **why couldn't the people see that he's only trying to protect them? Sighing, Uther got up from the throne, no longer drunk and yanked a golden necklace off the cold stone walls (the barrier around Ygraine's heart that Uther could hardly fit inside).

The necklace was Ygraine's most precious possession, it had her name engraved inside a heart shape, on the back was the name Gerlois, the duke of Tintagel, in Cornwall and the word _forever _was engraved in the middle. Uther clutched the pendant, never had Ygraine left any of his gifts in this lonely room...

Shutting the metallic door, Uther silently trudged away...

* * *

Arthur felt guilty. He didn't go to his mother's grave and ended up accompanying Vera to the forests. He didn't even like the Irish woman, but for some reason he couldn't stop himself from staring at her, wanting to talk to her and _carefully _watching her from the sidelines. His feeling towards her was definitely not as strong as the one for Gwen or even Merlin.

"Merlin! Stop making that tapping noise!"

Merlin blushed a shade of light pink when he realized Arthur heard him tapping his feet along with the beat of some travelling musician strumming a stringed instrument and apologized, returning back to cleaning up Proud's smelly stable. Arthur watched Merlin do his chores like he always did.

"What do you think of Vera?" Arthur asked out of the blue, leaning against the stable walls, staring at Merlin.

Shifting slowly away from Arthur, Merlin replied in a truthful voice,"I don't really like her, to be honest..."

"Why? Did she do something to you?" Arthur asked in a voice that sounded like I-Am-Going-To-Kill-Her-If-She-Did and silently watched Merlin's reaction, making Merlin feel _very_ self-conscious about himself and tried to think about other things.

"No, she just gives me a bad feeling," Merlin simply replied as he sweeped a pile of brown horse manure into a bucket and tipped it over into a large wheelbarrow,"Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering..." Arthur mumbled, staring into space and patted Proud on the back, making the stallion whinny in comfort.

Raising his eyebrow, Merlin turned back to shoveling up piles of manure.

"Done!" Merlin announced, stretching his arms and exhaled loudly in relief.

"Che, took you long enough," Arthur muttered as he led Proud back inside his box and gave Proud a fresh, juicy apple as a reward for staying quiet and behaved.

Merlin felt a little jealous, Arthur never rewarded him when he did something good - Not that Merlin wanted to be a dog... Snapping out of his thoughts as Arthur shut the stable door with a clang, Merlin put down the shovel and looked at his filthy shirt, wincing at the sight. Pulling off his shirt, Merlin slipped into his clean clothes that he brought just in case, turned to face Arthur and realized the prince was blushing a deep shade of red.

"You know... You didn't have to change right in front of me!" said Arthur heatedly, feeling warm blood rush through him and paused at his cheeks.

"It shouldn't matter, we're both males," Merlin pointed out, highly amused,"Unless... You're not quite the woman lover I thought you were..."

The last sentence snapped the last straw. Arthur's face and neck were bright red from embarrassment and a tint of anger. Spinning around, Arthur stomped outside, he couldn't let Merlin see that he was now _gay_... Even though he loved Gwen, Arthur began to realize his feelings for Merlin, ever since this morning he found a pretty bracelet sitting on the drawer next to the candle with Merlin's name on it. It had said '_To my most beloved Prince..._'

"Hey! I didn't mean to hurt you in any way," Merlin apologized as he ran after Arthur,"It was meant to- to...umm..." pausing, Merlin wasn't sure what it was meant to do.

"Why did you give me a bracelet?" asked Arthur, not looking at Merlin.

"Bracelet? What bracelet?" wondered Merlin as he appeared beside Arthur,"Did I give you a bracelet?"

"Yes, you did..." answered Arthur, facing Merlin and realized that Merlin was clueless,"Your name was on the sheet of paper"

Staring clueless at Arthur, Merlin pondered. '_Did I give him a present?_' Merlin thought thoroughly as he continued to ponder, not noticing Arthur walking away. Merlin jogged up to Arthur, he remembered Gwen had asked him to do something, something to do with the scroll... Eyes widening, Merlin remembered Gwen asking him to give Arthur the gift's on the list, he had completely forgotten about it!

"Arthur!" shouted Merlin, grabbing Arthur's wrist harshly, making Arthur spin around to face Merlin.

"What?!" asked Arthur as he tried to avoid Merlin's deep blue eyes.

"Umm... I gave you the bracelet," Merlin announced, blushing slightly and let go of Arthur's firm wrist,"I-I thought it suited it you," he added, trying to make it sound more believable.

"Then _why_ didn't you tell me that _earlier_?" questioned Arthur in annoyance, putting his hands on his hips, waiting for an answer.

"Umm... I-I forgot?" Merlin stuttered quietly, fibbing simple things like this was really not his thing...

Arthur looked at Merlin funnily and didn't bother asking anymore questions, since it was obvious that he was lying. Walking away, Arthur yanked open the oak wood door and entered it sluggishly with Merlin stumbling hopelessly after him.

"Why, good morning, lads," came an Irish voice, making Merlin shudder at the word '_lad_' and straighted himself in alert.

Arthur and Merlin turned around and found themselves staring at a cheerful, bright young woman. Vera looked at Arthur, then pulled her green eyes onto Merlin and tipped her head to the side a little, making her look innocent and confused. Merlin was fuming, '_Acting all innocent now eh?_' he hissed angrily at Vera while she just smiles at him childishly and strutted towards the boys, shaking her hips along the way. '_Slut..._' both the boys thought at once desperately searching for an escape route.

"Awww... Don't you guys want to have a chat with me?" Vera pouted at them, but mostly at Arthur,"Am I that hideous?!" she wailed quietly, making the prince feel guilty but Merlin knew better and didn't want comfort her at all.

"Sorry, it's not that..." Arthur trailed off, watching Vera break down in tears,"I'm just really busy right now. So, I can't talk to you right now..."

"B-But, can I tell you something right now?" Vera asked, pulling Arthur's sleeves, urging him to come, glanced at Merlin and added in a whisper,"In private"

Sighing in defeat, Arthur nodded his head and told Merlin to stay put until he returned. Merlin didn't like the sound of this but hesitantly obeyed Arthur's order anyway. Vera softly dragged Arthur further and further away from Merlin and into a pitch-black empty room that probably belonged to no-one. Magically lighting the candle, Vera aggressively pushed Arthur into a mound of wooded boxes filled with scrolls and riches and grinned at him.

"What do want with me?!" Arthur yelled in alarm as he struggled to get up but was Vera's foot was holding him down.

"I want you to be mine," Vera declared with a smirk and chuckled lightly,"If you won't I'll murder the one you consider the most important, trust me, I know exactly who it is"

"Trust _you_?" Arthur snorted, quickly pulling Vera's leg, making her tumble down into the mound with a crash while Arthur stood up, glaring down at her,"You're the last person I will trust and you want _me _to be yours? Che, In your dreams!" he sneered as he made his way to the metal door.

"Then I'll kill the person you love," Vera repeated bluntly, sitting up and eyed Arthur,"So, answer me Arthur Pendragon. Will you be mine?"

Break Merlin's heart or get Merlin killed was the desician. Arthur stopped in front of the metal door , slowly sliding his hand of the cold, smooth metal handle and answered:

"_Yes..._"

* * *

Waiting impatiently by a window, Merlin kept glancing back at the direction where Vera took Arthur. '_Where are they?!_' whined Merlin in his head. '_They?_' questioned Cara's high-pitched voice. Tipping his head, Merlin smiled as Cara looked at him as if he was the stupidest in the world. '_That Vera girl, beware of her,_' Cara warned viewing her worry through her facial expression. '_I know, she called me Emrys_' Merlin told Cara, dropping down to Cara's height, Merlin sat down against the wall underneath the large window where the sun was shooting in and hunched his back a little. '_She tried to attack Morgana and Gwen..._' Cara started, lying down next to Merlin, waiting for some sort of reply.

"THAT EVIL BITCH!" Merlin roared, taking Cara by surprise, who knew Merlin would actually call someone a bitch...

"A-hem, who are you calling a _bitch_?" Arthur questioned, staring at Merlin while Vera revealed herself from behind Arthur and smiled wickedly.

"T-This women I know from Ealdor," Merlin lied, wondering why Vera was so joyful at this moment. '_Oh no..._' Cara groaned, glaring at Vera like a laser beam.

"We are officially a couple!" cheered Vera, grabbing Arthur's arm and looped it with hers,"I'm sooo lucky!"

Merlin stared wide eyed at Arthur, hoping this was not true but Arthur looked away, his eyes clouded with guilt, regret and a hint of pity. Cara couldn't believe what she was hearing! Seriously, how did this happen?!

"I'm sorry," Arthur whispered apologetically,"You can have a day off today and tomorrow if you want..."

As he said that, Arthur walked away with Vera's arm entwined with his, leaving Merlin sitting there staring after them, still shocked and hurt. '_Merlin..._' Cara murmured lightly, watching her owner weep silently under the window with the sun shining through happily...

* * *

"Your majesty, there is a sorceress in Camelot!" spoke a young peasant man, as he fell down onto his knees,"Please, please help us sire. She is destroying my crops!"

"I will help you, but only if you give me proof," reasoned Uther, getting up and followed the peasant through a crowd of other peasants that parted ways and created a path towards the peasant man's home; on the dry fields that use to be overflowed with golden-brown wheat and grains, now it was a entire plain of mud brown rotting plants that reeked the scent of foul eggs and fish.

"What happened here?!" Uther exclaimed, pinching his nose so he couldn't smell anything,"You say this is done by magic, am I not correct?"

"Yes, sire, this is done by the evilness of magic!" the peasant stated angrily as he continued to rant about how horrible magic is and the way it destroyed his crops.

Nodding his head, even though not listening, Uther investigated what was in front of him and knew that he was right. Magic _is_ and _will_ always be the deaths and tortures of his people. The peasant was to borrow someone to help him plant some new crops.

"But sire, what will happen if the newly planted crops die as well?" the peasant implied, reaching inside his pocket for something,"And wouldn't you need your men?"

"If the crops die a second time without some scientific explanation then my finest knights will search for this sorceress and I'm only letting you borrow _one _of my men" explained Uther as he motioned his men to return to the castle before him.

"Here you go," offered the peasant willingly, handing a little bag which contained a small thumb sized crimson red ruby shimmering in the west sun,"This is all I can repay you for spending your time helping me, sire"

"Thank you, you're most kind," Uther smiled as he followed his knights back into the castle, while the peasant went back to work, replanting the crop.

As Uther walked into his throne room, he noticed that Gaius, his most trusted physician was panting heavily with blood trickling down his hunched back, his legs cut and bleeding, that he couldn't even stand up straight and his right arm damaged severely, blood had soaked his whole sleeve.

"Gaius! What happened?!" Uther asked in shock, as he helped Gaius to a old wooden stool and examined Gaius's wounds cautiously, while Gaius described what happened.

"There was a woman and a man out in the forest, tormenting little children, kicking them, punching them, abusing them. Then the man revealed a knife and stabbed the eldest child in the shoulder and smacked his head until he was unconscious, the woman beat down the two younger children with her wooden shoe and then left leaving the children bleeding and bruised. The man was still there, sitting by a tree guarding the children like a dog. I then stepped out, hoping that the man would reason with me and let me treat the children's wound, but..." Gaius trailed off, his eyes staring into space.

"But... but what?" Uther urged on, wanting to hear more of this.

"He wouldn't let me, and aggressively attacked me without a warning. I managed to bring the children here but I don't know where their parents are..." Gaius explained, wobbling up into a standing position and limped to the exit.

Uther quickly helped his old friend outside of the throne room and steadily climbed up the long winding flight of stairs towards Gaius's room. Inside the physician's room, Uther was told to get certain things out of the cupboards; bandages, ointment, some crushed herbs and their juice. Placing the things down carefully, Uther let himself be guided through bandaging Gaius and rubbing the right ointments on the correct wounds, it wasn't as easy as it looked.

"Where are these children?" Uther asked as he wrapped Gaius's cut legs.

"They are with Guinevere, Morgana's servant," answered Gaius, waving his hand at Uther telling him that he has helped enough and that he could do it himself now,"I was hoping that I would be allowed to keep them in the castle"

Uther thought about this and approved,"They can stay in the castle, but only if they are capable with being servants for the guests coming to Camelot next week. They will need to have a job, I'm not letting them stay for free" he stated calmly, sitting on the uncomfortable pine wood stool next to a large table covered with herbs and cures.

"They're only children, Uther!" Gaius protested in a mature way,"What are you expecting from them?"

"I expect nothing," Uther replied,"I just think they should help around rather than do nothing and play and be a nuisance"

"Fine, they can work but only when they healed," Gaius reasoned, clipping on the the last bandage on his arm with a small silver pin.

They made the deal, and Uther left Gaius to whatever he needs to do. '_Where's Arthur? I haven't seen him all day,_' thought Uther in wonder as he opened the door to Ygraine's treasure room for the second time of the day. As he strolled inside he noticed the boxes were completely out of place and were scattered everywhere, but the throne was left untouched. '_What happened here? Was there a thief?!_' pondered Uther in alarm as he carefully picked up the boxes and moved them back where they belonged, or where he thought they belonged. He scanned the room for any stolen treasures or jewels that were hanging on the wall, nothing. Exhaling in relief, Uther finally packed everything up and took one last look at his wife's throne and left, locking the door behind him. This will be his last time in that room.

Uther walked silently outside towards the forests, his cape lightly floating in the wind as he stalked among the trees, checking in alert if any one or _thing_ was spying on him. Sensing nothing suspicious, he let down his guards for a bit and silently trampled over dead leaves and dense soil.

Snap!

Breaking a weak vine, a view of a lake appeared in front of Uther. Lush grass stretched around the giant puddle, flowers bloomed red, yellow and white, roughly dancing in the heavy wind, the lake crystal blue reflecting the dark cloudy sky above with the sun glowing above them and the black pine trees swayed violently. It was going to rain. Uther shivered as the wind slammed against him, spreading the cold through him and drying his eyes. '_I should have worn more! It's bloody freezing!_' Uther sniffed, raising his head he sure a young boy sitting by the lake side throwing stones into the water, panicking the fish inside.

"Young man! Aren't you cold?!" Uther called out, making his way up the boy.

The boy turned his head and ignored Uther, returning to whatever he was doing. The boy had straight raven black hair reaching his shoulders and ghostly grey eyes that almost looked white, his skin was slightly tanned honey-yellow and he was wearing golden brown peasant clothes and his right arm was bandaged, he looked the age of thirteen.

"Answer me child!" demanded Uther hotly, he was not in the mood for an argument and crouched down next the boy.

"I'm not willing to talk to royalty, especially if they are the king," the boy remarked, throwing another small stone into the water with a splash.

"And why is that?" Uther asked, also picking a stone but skidded it across the water with ease,"Did they do something to you?"

The boy ignored him again, stood up and left into the dark forests ahead of him with the wind blowing violently against his sides. Uther didn't go after the boy but just called out,"What's your name boy?!"

Looking back, the boy answered in a bored tone,"Silvester, the name is Silvester sire."

Uther grinned and watched the boy disappear into the forest as droplets of cold water began to fall from the grey sky.

* * *

Inside safe and warm, Gwen and two children were sitting by the fire telling ghost stories. Screaming aloud, the youngest child, Faith jumped into Gwen's arms in fright and began wailing. The elder child, Roswell, just rolled his eyes dramatically and continued his story, making Faith twice as frightened.

"Roswell! I think we should stop now, your frightening Faith!" Gwen scolded, covering Faith's ears and peered at Roswell.

"Fine," Roswell finished, combing his snow blond hair back with his hand and glared at Faith,"I currently _hate_ being the eldest child"

"You love me, so don't deny it!" Faith chimed, her pale green eyes stared at Roswell while Gwen just snickered, running her hands in Faith's blond hair, the same as Roswell's.

Faith and Roswell were both the same age and looked pratically the same, the only thing that was different was that one's a girl and the other is a boy and the boy was born three minutes earlier. Both had snow-white blond hair, pale green eyes, white skin that usually has a tint of pink and were at the age of ten.

Knock, knock.

Stepping inside was Cara and Silvester, they were dripping wet and shivering violently. Quickly running to get a towel, Gwen threw them at Cara and Silvester and gathered the two towards the fire so they could warm up.

"Did you see Vera around lately? She seems to have left us alone," Gwen brought up,"Where's Arthur? Merlin came crying to me just two hours ago"

"...Vera O'Sullivan wasn't around today, I saw her with Arthur Pendragon linking arms..." Silvester answered looking at Cara knowingly '_Am I not correct?_' he asked. '_You are perfectly correct boy,_' Cara replied as she nuzzled Faith's palm.

Gwen shot up, her expression unreadable and stomped out into the rain. Faith and Roswell sat there not knowing what was happening. Cara and Silvester looked at each other and decided to follow her into the pouring rain.

* * *

Arthur was sick off this act.

"You happy now?!" he asked angrily, wiping his arm away from Vera's and scrowled at her while she just laughed in amusement.

"Yes, yes, _very_ happy!" Vera smirked as she twirled around and cheered.

Arthur felt rage build up inside him as he watched the Irish woman dance the victory dance. '_Why did I let this happen?!_' Arthur screamed in his head, hating every minute of this and Merlin's reaction to this act made Arthur feel ten times as bad!

Suddenly, he heard the door burst open revealing Gwen, Cara and a young boy and _god_they were unhappy. Gwen marched up to Vera, raised her hand SLAP went her hand across the pale cheeks of Vera. Shrieking in rage, Vera pushed Gwen against the wall and clawed her chocolate brown cheek and viciously slapped the other. Arthur and Silvester pulled Vera away from Gwen while Cara stood in front of her guarding Gwen. Vera struggled to get free, Arthur _accidentally _hit her across the head making her unconscious and Silvester kicked Vera while Cara bucked her.

"Are you alright Guinevere?" Arthur asked in worry, helping Gwen up.

"I-I'm fine," stuttered Gwen, her cheeks scratched and red,"Where's Merlin?"

"I don't know..." Arthur whispered, staring into Gwen's eyes. '_So I still love Guinevere then..._' Arthur thought, slightly confused now,'_Do I love Guinevere or Merlin?_'. Not noticing Cara and Silvester leaving with Vera.

Cara looked up as she exited the room and mumbled,'_Merlin you fool!_' and then helped Silvester drag Vera out into the forest, dumping her there for the rest of the night. Little did they know that someone was watching them leave and taken Vera to he or she's hiding place.

"Where were you two?" Gwen asked once she bumped into them, she left Arthur to talk with Merlin, who was sulking by Arthur's bed.

"We went to throw out rubbish," Silvester simply said, went into Gwen's house and got buried in a small mound of Faith and Roswell.

Cara and Gwen chuckled while Silvester blushed in embarrassment and crawled across the stone floor towards the fire. The rain was still pouring and the wind was picking up, it was going to be stormy night...

"Rossy! Rossy! Ghost story!" Faith begged, clinging onto Roswell's ankle while Roswell tried his hardest to shake her off.

"NO! You always end up crying and I _never_ finish my stories!!" Roswell shouted, failing to kick Faith off,"And stop calling me that!"

The scene made everyone in the room burst out laughing, except for Roswell, who was blushing and sulking in the corner. Suddenly Cara remembered something and bolted for the door and ran all the way back to the castle towards Morgana's room.

* * *

Morgana was sitting on her table, deciding which gift should be next. She glanced at the list and chose the dress. Laughing to herself, Morgana figured this present was going to be very _very_ entertaining indeed and strutted to her wardrobe and flipped through her row of gowns. '_Perfect!_'

Tap, tap.

"Who is it?"

'_Just me. Have you chosen the next present?_' Cara pranced inside and gaped at Morgana,'_What the hell are you planning?_'

"Oh this? Something that we're _all_going to enjoy!" Morgana hinted as she layed down her dress on the table and looked at it fondly.

'_You're going to dress Merlin up..._' Cara couldn't believe what she was hearing! '_Is __**that**__ the present?!_'

"Nope. There's going to a ball and I'm going to set it up, but I would need Uther's permission first though..." explained Morgana as she took out her quill and wrote something on a sheet of paper.

'_What am I suppose to deliver then?_' Cara asked, jumping onto the seat.

"This is what your going to deliver," Morgana handed the sheet of paper that said '_**To Arthur. Please meet me at the ball that is going to be held tomorrow... That is, if you can find me. From Merlin**_'

'_Are you shitting me?!_' Cara doubted as she stared at the note,'_I'm going to deliver to Arthur! But how in the world is Merlin even going to agree to wear a dress?!_ _And all this in one night!_'

Morgana just grinned and sang,"You'll be surprised" and shoved Cara out the door to do her job. Cara sighed, and set off, wondering what the ball was going to be like.

Entering Arthur's room, Cara silently crept towards the pillow, slid the note under it and quickly yet silently returned to Morgana's room. As she trotted, she felt herself being spied on. Turning around, a large hairy man with a long orange wired beard and crazy red eyes was towering over her. Cara shrieked, making a run for it but the man was bigger and unfortunately faster than she was and grabbed her hind legs and covered her mouth with his greasy hands that smelt of oil.

'_Help me! Somebody, please help me!_' Cara cried out as she kicked and struggled to free herself. The man whacked her across the head, taking her to the darkness and then there was silence. Nothing moved, nothing spoke. Just the man and Cara disappearing into the gloomy forests.

'_I won't be seeing Merlin in a dress then..._'

_**I realized improvising the story isn't as easy as it seems...**_


	6. Cara's missing, beginning of the ball

_**I thank LadyFromPoland, emiliexox, strawberry-sunset194, memories-of-hope, Black-Dranzer-1119, HollyandIvy13, catz22, CatSDOMA, cararook, TaKa033 and Grimmjowsgirl1 for reviewing Cara and the list of gifts.**_

**_ Chapter 6 : Cara's missing, beginning of the ball_**

"Cara? Where are you?!" called Merlin frantically as he searched the Arthur's room, but there was no sign of her,"Arthur have you seen Cara?"

Arthur was scoffing down his breakfast, looking up he put his hand up and swallowed his breakfast in a flash. Pondering a bit he remembered that Cara was hanging out with Morgana and Gwen for quite a while now.

"I wouldn't know, Merlin, she's been with Morgana and Guinevere most of the time," he replied, and began to eat again,"Why don't you go search Morgana's room?" he added with a mouth full of roast chicken.

"Oh, good idea," Merlin complimented as he headed for the door and suddenly paused,"Is there anything you want me to do _before_ I leave?"

"Well, you left a note under my pillow and apparently you're going to some ball, and I have to find you," Arthur reminded as he stared at Merlin,"So I'm guessing you'll need time to go prepare as well"

Merlin gaped, '_since when did I slip a note under Arthur's pillow? What ball?_' wondered Merlin as he left the room. Power walking along the hall, Merlin gazed out the glass window and found his eyes gazing into a cave far up on the mountain tops, where the snow falls, winter or summer, it still drops like endless white rain. The mountain was so tall, so tall that it reached the dusty grey clouds floating, clinging together up in the blank horizon. It's dark grayish blue smudge underneath the white blanket of snow on the peak of the mountain made the whole scenery gloomy, colder than it should be and dark - mysterious...

Tearing his eyes away, Merlin proceeded towards Morgana's room and whistled to himself a happy tune. Suddenly, he sensed someone about to attack him. Spinning around, he found himself face to face with... Vera....

"I thought you were dead," Merlin hissed coldly, completely expressionless as he backed away and lifted his arms putting them in front of his chest in a cross shape as a defence,"I heard Cara and Silvester took out the _rubbish_"

"Tsk, tsk, do you ever learn, _Emrys_?" retorted Vera as she stepped closer to Merlin, intimidating him,"I can't believe some scrawny _thing _like you is said to be one of the most powerful sorcerers in the whole of Europe! And Arthur seems to fancy you too!!"

Merlin gaped at Vera, wide eyed. Arthur fancies _him_.

Vera noticed the expression on the young warlocks face and smiled wickedly,"So you also fancy him then?" she chuckled as she took another step closer, cornering Merlin," Unfortunately, you can't have him"

"Can't have him?" came a noble woman's voice becoming louder as she came closer,"Since when did _you_ have the right to own the prince of Camelot?!"

Even though the memory of Vera ready to kill her was still freshly engraved in her mind, Morgana bundled up the courage and aggressively turned Vera around. Pressed against the wall, Merlin watched in shock as Morgana took out a sharp, pointed knife, gripping it in her hands, she lifted it up to Vera's throat.

"Answer my question!" ordered Morgana, as she pressed the knife to Vera's thought further, making warm, crimson blood trickle down Vera further,"Or do you _want_ to die?" Morgana threatened, narrowing her cold eyes.

"Die?" laughed Vera, lifting her hands up, surrendering,"No, I guess not"

"Morgana! Don't do this!" Merlin warned in alarm as he tried to run towards her, but he was stuck. Magic. Vera had cast a spell on him, making sure he couldn't do anything to protect Morgana.

"You should have foretold this. Your a traitor Morgana le Fay. An unwanted child that was abandoned by the castle. Your beloved mother didn't even want you... Che, she went of with another man and left you there with your dying father! Ha! And guess what?! That mother was Ygraine Pendragon!" Vera laughed as she cut Morgana with one thousand invisible swords and pierced through her with invisible darts.

Merlin couldn't believe what he was hearing! Morgana's mother was Arthur's mother?! Why hadn't Uther told her earlier? Why does Vera know about this?! Looking at Morgana, Merlin saw denial in her eyes like a child who won't believe that Santa is not real.

"NO! MY FATHER WAS KILLED BY ANOTHER MAN!!!" yelled Morgana, tears streaming down her pale cheeks,"MY MOTHER DIED A FEW DAYS AFTER I WAS BORN!! SHE DIDN'T ABANDON ME!!"

Now Vera was smirking, watching in amusement as Morgana fell down onto her knees weeping, chanting 'My mother didn't leave me," over and over again. Still stuck on the wall, Merlin watched in sorrow and pity, feeling stupid, helpless and useless.

"Stop it! Let me go!" demanded Merlin as he tried his hardest to concentrate on his magic to break free. Nothing happened, he was still too weak,"Morgana! Don't listen to her! She's just trying to weaken you!"

"Hahahaha! Weaken her? She's weak enough! And it only took a few small words!" Vera cracked up as she stood up and strutted away towards Arthur's chamber...

Merlin eyed her as she went, feeling her powers fade as she strutted further. Sliding down slowly, he was finally released and quickly ran up to Morgana, who was still sobbing and chanting on the cold floor.

"Morgana... You all right?" Merlin asked in concern, patting her back softly and gently as she began to calm down, her chilly tears drying around her eyes, making the side of her eyes uncomfortably and slightly sticky.

Nodding, Morgana wobbled as she tried to stand up straight and clinged on to Merlin when she stumbled over. Merlin continued to reassure and calm her with soft murmurs and sweet words as they helped each other walk to Gwen's home.

* * *

Still fast asleep, snoring under the pile of soft bed sheets, Faith and Roswell were mumbling something about sweet, plump, plum pudding while Silvester was reheating the fireplace with a large stone and Gwen was cooking the sweet, plump, plum pudding that the twins were dreaming about.

"I'm done with the fireplace," Silvester whispered, not wanting to wake the two innocent children,"When the hell is Sir Lancelot going to propose?!" he added as he quietly placed the two stones on the small steel table by the medium sized fireplace.

Dropping the uncracked brown chicken egg with a splat, Gwen clumsily picked it up but only slipping over the egg white right afterwards, making Silvester chuckle in amusement as he watched. Gwen had not been expecting this topic to be brought up and was caught completely off guard.

"Silvester! Stop laughing and help me up please!" Gwen ordered as she tried to lift herself up, but ending up slipping again,"Oww..."

Rolling his eyes, Silvester put out his hand while Gwen grabbed onto it as she slowly and carefully stood up. As Gwen thanked him, the twins were waking up due to the crashing and splatting noises outside. Faith was the first to fully awaken to the smell of sweet, juicy plum pudding and as quickly as possible bolted to the sweet scent. When Roswell finally awoken, Faith was already at the table, waiting impatiently for her pudding to be served.

"Morning..." Roswell greeted tiredly, rubbing his half open eyes and trudged to the table and sat down on the hard wooden chairs.

"Morning" everyone greeted back loudly, hoping Roswell would wake up already, since he was drifting off to sleep at the table, nearly banging his head on the hard surface.

"Pudding's ready!" Gwen announced, placing the freshly baked plum pudding onto the table, feeling that she was spoiling them a little.

The word 'pudding' immediately inserted into Roswell's mind as he quickly grabbed a slice of warm pudding and stuffed it into his small mouth. The pudding melted in his mouth as the warmth filled his mouth, big chunks of plums sweetened his tongue and th spongy texture brushed against the inside of his jaw as he chewed slowly savouring the taste in his mouth.

Faith on the other hand was scoffing down every part of the pudding she could get her hands on. She didn't bother tasting it, as long as it was in her stomach she would be happy.

"My goodness, Faith!" Gwen exclaimed as she pulled out her handkerchief and wiped Faith's mouth gently and scolded,"You shouldn't eat quite so fast, you'll choke"

"B-But the pudding's so yummy! I don't want Rossy to eat it all!" Faith pouted as she glared at Roswell, who was eating his slice peacefully.

"We have to share," Silvester told Faith in a serious tone, looking bored as ever.

"Well, you seem to have everything in control. Can you look after them while I go check Morgana?" Gwen asked, putting on her light brown woolly coat that Morgana gave her for her birthday and headed outside.

"Sure thing, I've looked after these brats since the day they were born," Silvester replied, staring into space right afterwards.

Gwen smiled and wrapped her hand around the door knob until...

Knock, knock.

"May we come in?" Merlin's voice came from the other side.

Opening the door, Gwen quickly pulled off her coat and wrapped it around Morgana, who was shivering and still crying a little.

"What happened?" Gwen questioned worryingly, as she helped Merlin drag Morgana to the table,"Did someone hurt her? Another nightmare?! It's that nightmare again isn't it!" she guessed frantically eyeing Merlin.

"V-Vera s-she --" Morgana stuttered as she began to wipe the last few tears from her eyes,"She told me my mother was Ygraine, Uther's wife!"

Gwen, Silvester stayed really still, their eyes widening in shock. Merlin nodded slowly, taking a slice of pudding and ate it quickly. The twins were clueless, as they excused themselves from the table and went outside to play a game.

"What?! Are you sure you didn't hear wrong?" Silvester said in disbelief.

Shaking her head, Morgana replied in a solemn voice,"N-No I wouldn't mishear this..."

"Then doesn't that mean you and Arthur are siblings?! You should tell Arthur this," Gwen suggested, brown eyes showing extreme determination.

"I agree," Merlin squeezed into the conversation,"Arthur should know about this, since this is his mother as well"

"Easy for you to say!" Morgana retorted, losing her temper,"You guys probably never experienced this before!"

"My lady, we're only trying to help," Gwen stated seriously as she put her hand on Morgana's shoulder,"We're your friends. Friends," she repeated, soothing Morgana.

"R-Really?" Morgana squeaked, choking back tears, _happy_ tears.

The three people in front of her nodded, smiling at her warmly.

"I-I'm sorry..." Morgana apologized, staring down at the table,"I shouldn't have lost my temper on you guys, sorry"

"Well, we shouldn't pressured you so much either. You don't have to tell Arthur if you don't too," Gwen apologized back for Merlin and Silvester and then asked,"So why did you come here for? So early in the morning too"

"I came to tell you what happened, and to see if you needed any help," Morgana replied softly, twirling her fingers.

"I was wondering if you have seen Cara?" Merlin mentioned, feeling a bit restless,"Arthur said Morgana had her"

Morgana rose her eyebrow,"I did, but she went back to Arthur's chamber right after she came over from Gwen's. I haven't seen her since," she confessed.

"Do you think someone might have kidnapped her?" Silvester broke in,"Like a butcher or something. Deer meat tastes nice, apparently"

"..."

Everyone went silent, thinking what might have happened, then Morgana blurted out,"Maybe she'll come at the ball!"

Merlin, Gwen and Silvester gaped at her and all asked in unison,"What ball?!" and gathered around Morgana, keen to here her extraordinary plan and much to Merlin's dismay, he realized he _had_ _to_ wear a bloody dress!

"Why do I have to wear a dress?!" Merlin complained,"I'm not a woman!"

"But Arthur certainly likes women," Morgana pointed out, smirking at Merlin,"And even if your not an _actual_ girl, you could at least act like one"

Silvester fell onto the floor and bursted into laughter, pointing at a pouting Merlin. Gwen rolled her eyes at Silvester's immaturity and gave Merlin the pity pat, smiling lightly. '_Why, Why is it always me?!_' Merlin whined in his mind,'_Gwen's not willing to save me either!_'

As if Morgana had read his mind she pushed,"Don't you want Arthur to love you? To touch you, to kiss ---"

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!" Merlin shouted, covering his ears from the dirty talk,"I'll do it..." he approved in defeat and uncovered his ears.

"Good boy," Morgana praised, patting Merlin's head,"Now all I got to do now is get Uther's permission!" she piped, standing up dramatically, making the chair tumble down onto the floor with a bang.

"W-Wait! I'm coming with you," Gwen called out, quickly slipping another coat on and ran after Morgana,"Merlin! Can you help Silvester look after Faith and Roswell?"

"Sure," Merlin replied as he exited the right after the two women went towards the castle, Silvester followed Merlin and wandered around, finding the twins diving into a large pile of dry, crackly sunset leaves.

Silvester tried to pull the twins out of the pile of leaves but they just wouldn't listen and began to kick and scream. Merlin watched the twins kick and scream but did nothing, leaving Silvester struggling to gain control.

"NO! NO! I want to play!" Faith screamed while Roswell bit Silvester's arm.

'_This is going to take some time..._' Merlin sighed.

* * *

Uther raised his eyebrow and thought about this suggestion.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Morgana urged as her did an adorable pout, trying to make Uther approve,"Pretty please"

Gwen chuckled in the background, this was really entertaining! Uther eyed Morgana as he thought, wondering why she wanted to have a ball so badly. Was it for someone she likes? No that can't be...

"Fine, I agree," Uther sighed in defeat as he stood from his throne and walked up to his ward,"On one condition," he reasoned.

"And what would that be?" Morgana challenged, her cold blue eyes meeting Uther's,"I will not marry whoever you will pick!"

"You know me very well," Uther commented,"But I'm afraid not well enough"

Morgana froze on the spot. '_What is he planning?!_' she thought in panic, trying to mask the fear that was about to overflow. Uther laughed. LAUGHED! Something Uther doesn't tend to do much, so something must be up.

"W-What are you planning?!" Morgana asked in alert, backing away slightly but her eyes still cold as ever.

"You'll see," was Uther's reassuring reply as he strolled past Morgana with his proud posture, almost as if saying he's going to get what he wants.

"You fuckin, _sneaky_ old geezer!" Morgana growled angrily, when she heard the door shut quietly and marched to Gwen, grabbing her hand and pulled her out the massive door, face red with anger.

"M-My lady," Gwen stuttered as she pulled out of Morgana strong grip,"Please calm down! You got what you wanted didn't you?"

"Yes I did, but that bloody old man that's called a king plans to marry me away!!" Morgana protested as she glared at the door.

Sighing in annoyance, Gwen decided to ditch the sulking Morgana in the large, empty throne room and set off to her mistress's chamber. Watching her maidservant walk away, leaving her in the cold room, Morgana ran after her and quickly followed her all the way to her chamber.

"Rather than sulking about Uther, how about we start preparing for the ball?" Gwen suggested as she entered the room and spread out the sheets of paper that were scattered on the table in no order at all.

"OK," Morgana agreed, unrolling a large sheet of paper, yellow brown in colour and stretched it across the table like a blanket.

"Where did you get this?" Gwen questioned in amazement, scanning the unknown words inscripted on the rough paper,"This doesn't feel like paper at all!"

"Because it's some animal's skin," Morgana replied calmly as she softly brushed her hands across the texture of the skin,"I got it from my father and mother. Apparently it there to be used by me, only me. For something I don't know"

Gwen looked at Morgana in confusion as she took out the ink and quill, handing them to Morgana. She watched as her mistress draw the ball in bird's eye view and quickly suggested a couple of things, like where tables should be, the style and design of the whole ballroom.

"I think we should have round tables, there won't be any superiors that way," Gwen suggested loudly as she sketched where the tables would be and stared at Morgana for some kind of approval.

"That's a good idea," Morgana agreed, nodding slowly,"Now that the tables are decided, we just need to find round tables..."

"The carpenter can make them! I heard he's good at wood carving and is really fast too," remembered Gwen, and hurried to the door,"I'll go get him!"

Morgana approved, concentrating on the design of the ball and how to invite everyone. '_Maybe I can gather everyone at the courtyard,_' she thought as she quickly scribbled chairs, candles, and tables, all going it a zig zag direction. Sighing in satisfaction, Morgana held it up and nodded her head liking what she was seeing.

Creeeaaak.

"Who's there?" Morgana asked in fright, pointing her quill outwards.

"Sorry, I didn't knock," Gwen's voice ringed through the tiny gap apologetically,"I brought the carpenter"

"Oh, come in," allowed Morgana, placing down the piece of animal skin with her work on it,"I suppose you can do something for us"

The carpenter stayed quiet and only nodded as a response. He had dark brown locks, tanned skin and soft black eyes. Gwen gently patted him on the back, reassuring him that Morgana wasn't going to expect too much from him. Thanks to Gwen's reassuring words to the carpenter managed to have a conversation with Morgana but he said everything so quietly that Morgana couldn't hear a single word.

"Umm... So you want the tables round, but how big?" the carpenter asked, flicking his dark brown hair out of his eyes, and waited for Morgana's reply.

"I don't know actually..." was Morgana's pathetic reply, blushing deeply in embarrassment as she fidgeted a little,"I've never made tables before!" she stated irritably.

"How about we go to the ballroom," Gwen suggested,"We can decide there"

Both nodded and followed Gwen to the ballroom.

* * *

Sneaking around in the dark ballroom, Merlin hid in between the piles of red-brown mahogany chairs. He was playing hide and seek with Faith and Roswell while Silvester was guarding the house. Peering over the chairs, Merlin saw a figure yank open the ballroom doors with two followers.

"It's so dusty in here," a feminine voice echoed in the massive room.

The other two just nodded, following their leader's footsteps carefully. Merlin ducked realizing that the leader saw him and heard the sound of her shoes tapping louder and louder as she got closer and closer.

"Merlin?"

"AAHHH!!" Merlin shrieked, falling backwards causing the pile of chairs crashing down with him.

"Are you alright?!" Gwen's worried voice echoed loudly,"Did you hurt yourself?" she added quietly this time.

Merlin looked up and saw Gwen, Morgana and a man he didn't recognise. Merlin gripped onto Gwen's sleeve and pulled himself up, feeling slightly dizzy.

"Why are you here?" he asked,"The ball thing?"

"Yes, and since your here I have a present for you," Morgana smiled cheekily,"But you have to come to my room"

"What about the ballroom design?" Gwen asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest,"Your not going to ditch it are you? It's important too!!"

"Gwen calm down," Morgana chuckled,"You are to take charge of the ballroom design, I need to make Merlin do something," she explained, winking at Gwen.

"Oh, OK then," Gwen giggled, knowing what's going to happen to Merlin,"Well, good luck then, Merlin"

Leaving the ballroom, Merlin was a bit confused,'_Good luck?_' he thought, scratching his head a little in confusion as he followed Morgana.

Click, clack.

The sound of Morgana's shoes tapped rhythmically as they strolled through the corridors, her shoes were the only source of sound in the silence. Spacing out as he walked, Merlin began to worry about his feeling for Arthur and where Cara was. '_Where did she go?_' Merlin thought in worry, staring out the window,'_Maybe she returned to her home back in the forests..._'

"Here we are," Morgana interrupted, opening the door, smirking at the same time,"The present is one of my precious possessions"

Now Merlin paled. He tried to escape, but found the door slammed shut in front of him. Gulping, he turned around and saw Morgana's triumphed smirk lurking above him as he surrendered unwillingly. Trudging along, Merlin was led to Morgana's large wardrobe, filled with... Gowns...

"I have this terrible feeling..." Merlin trailed off, shuffling away from Morgana,"Is the present a dress by any chance?"

"Oh, Merlin, don't worry so much! Arthur's going to love it! I just need to give you a wig and add a bit of make-up and we're done!" Morgana smiled picking out a flowing long dress and put it in front of him and nodded in agreement,"It fits," she mumbled.

"So, where am I going to wait in the ball?" Merlin asked, watching Morgana admire the dress and his figure.

"I thought you didn't want to go?" Morgana smirked, lying the dress firmly on the mattress of her bed,"Aww... Is it because of Arthur?"

Merlin blushed crimson red and dropped his gaze on to the floor so Morgana couldn't see it. Then suddenly Morgana pushed Merlin onto her bed and tied him to her bedpost.

"What are you going to do?!" Merlin asked in fright as he struggled to loosen himself but failed.

"To force you into a dress, Merlin," was Morgana's cold reply.

'_Crap..._'

* * *

In the Afternoon, at the ball

The ballroom was crowded. The king, the noble men and women and knights came, along with their busy servants. Arthur was sitting on a small throne next to his father, searching for Merlin everywhere in the raging crowds of people entering the ballroom door. There was no sign of him. Arthur sighed in irritation and decided to continue searching around the massive room.

While searching, Arthur realized the ballroom was beautifully decorated. Smooth, polished mahogany round tables stood at the sides of the large room, giving the guests to dance in the centre. There were slick wax candles lit on the tables and on the golden chandelier hanging on the creamy ceiling brightening the whole room. Chairs cushioned in flame red and sea blue comforted the bottom. The orchestra played a merry tune on a low stage next to the king's ward.

"Like what your seeing?" Morgana asked joyfully, appearing behind Arthur's throne.

"Yeah, did you do all this yourself?" Arthur wondered, excusing himself from Uther and joined Morgana into the noisy crowd.

"No, Gwen designed all this," Morgana confessed willingly, twirling around with the other dancers,"I was helping Merlin get ready"

"Speaking of Merlin, where is he?!" Arthur asked, laughing at Morgana when she tripped over her own feet,"You didn't do anything to him did you?"

"Oh, why don't you find that out yourself. I'm too tired to bother answering," Morgana said mischievously, turning around and headed further into the crowd and picked some random guy and danced with him before.

Arthur glared at Morgana as she danced and flirted with the man. Giving up sulking, Arthur figured it would be about time he would look for is manservant, where ever he is, until Gwen faded into the scenery. Arthur thought he was imagining it, Gwen in a elegant gown, coloured in silver and grey. The colours of the wise moon. There was a tall young woman walking with her looking shy and nervous. She was wearing deep purple and blue-violet flowing gown, her dark raven black hair curled ringlets at the ends, reaching her back and her snow-white skin glowed lightly.

Gwen noticed Arthur's stares at the girl and quickly pulled her out of his sight. Arthur became more curious, why was Gwen trying to hide her from him? As the question became more and more interesting, the young prince went to track down Gwen and this mysterious woman...

* * *

"What do I do? What do I do? I can't act like a girl! You know how bad I am with lying!" Merlin's panicking voice rung through the corridors.

"Just relax," Gwen murmured, trying to calm Merlin down,"Everything's going to be fine. You've acted like a girl before, so relax"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! Arthur usually calls you a girl, so I figured you already knew how to act like one and, and..."

"Don't worry Gwen, don't worry. I'll try do this right... Happy?"

"Yes"

With a nod, Merlin strutted away and to his planned waiting place, at the royal garden behind the ballroom.

* * *

Still trying to track down Gwen's tracks, Arthur found himself at the royal garden. Searching for two feminine figures, he found the tall young pale one sitting on a large light grey rock surrounded by prickly rose bushes, painted with red, white, pink and yellow roses.

Silently walking towards the woman, Arthur picked a red rose from the bush and kneeled down in front of her.

"Why hello, may I ask, what is your name?" Arthur began as he handed the red rose to the woman and looked at her facial features.

"Ummm..."

"Merlin?!"  
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_**Please Review... **_


	7. Always someone in the way

_**Chapter 7: Always someone in the way**_

"Merlin?!" Arthur's voice seemed to ring around Merlin's large ears as he struggled to keep his blush from rushing into his cheeks.

"Ummm... I..." blood rushed into his cheeks anyway as he tried so hard to cover it his raven locks,"W-What do you think?" he stuttered, lifting his arms lightly revealing his whole frame.

Arthur stared and stared and stared. Morgana's dress fitted Merlin's skinny figure perfectly. The dress showed off his _feminine_ curves as it wrapped around him softly, the indigo fabric hung from his hips like a flowing waterfall.

"Is that make-up?" queried Arthur moving closer to Merlin, before you knew it, their faces were inches apart.

"Umm... M-Morgana she forced it on me. Hoping it would make me seem more girlie..." Merlin trailed off, trying to avoid eye contact with Arthur.

"Well, I hate to admit it, but it makes you twice as girlie," Arthur confessed, closing the gap between them a little bit more,"But as beautiful as ever..."

They nearly closed the gap until...

"HEYA MATE!!"

'_What the fuck...?!_' both Merlin and Arthur thought in unison as the drunk person moved on to ranting and slurring about his wife and girlfriend. Moving away slowly, Arthur dragged Merlin past the prickly rose bushes and towards a white fountain spraying cool, crystal clear water every second.

"Stop, I can't run anymore!" Merlin said panting heavily, grabbing the fountain's ridge and collapsed on the spot.

"I can't believe your _that_ weak! How on earth do you finish the chores I give you?!" Arthur remarked loudly as he knelt down next to Merlin and smiled lightly.

"I do it magically"

"What?! How could you lie to m---"

"It was a joke Arthur, a joke"

"Well, that _joke_ was _not_ funny!"

With that Arthur puffed out his chest and made a sound that sounded a lot like 'hmmph!" and turned his back on Merlin childishly. Chuckling softly at his prince's childish actions, Merlin leaned over and tapped his finger on Arthur's shoulder to get his attention.

"Awww... Come on!" Merlin pleaded, pouting in annoyance,"Don't ignore me..."

"Too bad, I'm not paying attention!"

"PLEASE?!"

"NO!"

"With a cherry on top?"

"Nope"

Growling lightly, Merlin gripped Arthur's right shoulder and gave a heavy tug, making Arthur fall backwards, onto Merlin's lap. Blushing, Arthur quickly shot up and hid his red face.

"We can't do anything, sorry," Arthur apologized, remembering Vera's threat and gazed in Merlin's astonished eyes,"I can't..."

"W-Why? I thought we had a thing for each other! Was I wrong?" Merlin's voice cracked, holding back tears of disappointment and betrayal,"Arthur tell me why"

Arthur shook his head slowly. If he told Merlin, Vera would have the idiot manservant killed or worse... Arthur shuddered at the thought of Merlin in Vera's hands, completely vulnerable and afraid. While Merlin couldn't believe this! After all the hard work in dressing himself up into a woman's dress, I repeat _woman's dress_, Arthur rejected him! Shaking in realization, Merlin concluded with the fact that Arthur was serious about the relationship with Vera and wasn't willing to give her up.

"I thought you said you loved Gwen..." Merlin muttered gloomily, hanging his head forward in despair,"Or were you joking about that too?"

Sitting in front of Merlin in shock of the harsh words being thrown at him, Arthur quickly made a move to cheer Merlin up, but unfortunately Merlin just moved away and smacked Arthur's hand away. He was crying. Merlin was crying. Arthur had seen Merlin cry before but, but this...

"I'm sorry..." Arthur murmured as he wrapped his arms around Merlin's shaking form and whispered quiet reassuring words,"It's going to be alright, it's going to be alright...."

"Alright! What the hell are you talking about?! Nothings to be alright! With that bitch around do you honestly think that everything is going to be fine?!" Merlin shouted through the streaming tears as he gripped Arthur's tunic never letting go.

Arthur knew what Merlin said was true, but does it ever hurt to dream and hold a small palm full of hope? This probably is the best time to test it....

"Merlin," began Arthur, letting go of Merlin, but still held onto Merlin's shoulders and stared deeply into his deep blue teary eyes.

"W-What?" Merlin choked a little, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Wait for me"

Merlin paused and shot his head up, staring at Arthur in surprise by the words. Arthur just smiled at Merlin as he pulled his head closer to Merlin's. Then the sudden sensation of his soft lips brushing against Merlin's wet ones made him shiver slightly, and pull himself closer to his manservant, who was returning the kiss.

Clinging onto Arthur, Merlin didn't want this to end, but of course things don't last forever. Arthur hesitantly pulled back, gasping for breath and was blushing madly. Merlin felt oddly cold and empty when Arthur pulled back and moved a bit closer for warmth and comfort.

"That was my first..." whispered Merlin quietly, smiling happily to himself and lay his head against Arthur's chest.

"Well, don't I feel special then. You should feel special too. The crowned prince of Camelot just kissed you," Arthur murmured smugly as he wrapped his strong arms around Merlin's waist.

"You arrogant prat," Merlin laughed, smacking Arthur's thigh playfully,"I think we wrinkled Morgana's dress," he added, staring at the wrinkled dress.

"Morgana's going to have some disturbing thoughts when she gets that dress back," Arthur chuckled as he brushed the dress lightly, getting the dirt off.

Merlin rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically,"Oh yes, of course Morgana would be that dirty minded, like you"

"I'm only dirty minded when your around. You should know that already," Arthur laughed as Merlin's face became beetroot red and playfully slapped his arm.

'_If only this would last forever and ever..._' thought Merlin and Arthur happily, but all happiness disappeared when they realized this wasn't going to happen and the last person they wanted to see was towering above them.

She was Vera O'Sullivan.

* * *

Morgana met up with Gwen just after Merlin and Arthur bumped into each other at the rose garden. Waiting in excitement for the boys to return to the ballroom, Morgana was tapping her foot the rhythm of the orchestra by the side of the round table while Gwen busied herself with helping the cook with a couple of dishes.

"Gwen, would you come here for a second?" Morgana called out from the other side of the table, watching Gwen place down the dish of tender chicken.

Quickly making her way to Morgana, Gwen asked,"What is the matter my lady?"

"Do you think Merlin and Arthur are doing something..." Morgana trailed off, staring into space and continued,"...Something disturbing...?"

Gwen blinked at the sudden question and stared at Morgana wide eyed.

"And what makes you think they are doing... That?"

"Because they are boys... You know boys, always so...umm..."

"Why don't we check on them then, since your so worried," Gwen suggested, coughing slightly at the awkward conversation they just had.

"No, we'll probably get in their way"

With that Morgana let Gwen do whatever she was doing before and set off further into the ball, where the nobles and posh people were, drinking fresh grape red wine or sparkling golden, honey coloured whisky. Unknown to Morgana, a hairy man invited himself into the ball, wearing a tight suit obviously too small for him, his red hair combed back roughly and his width was big that he had to push everyone out of the way. In his right hand, he gripped onto a medium sized cage covered by a soft, silky red blanket.

'_Help me... I'm here, can no-one hear me?_'

The desperate cry for help caught Morgana's attention, spinning around at the sound her eye's were layed at the red covered cage and what was inside it made her a little more curious...

'_Where are you? You sound familiar,_' Morgana telepathically called out to the mystery person or thing.

'_Lady Morgana?_'

High pitched voice of a child that breathed in helium reminded her of Cara and the fact that the replier knew her name made her think Cara again. Cautiously keeping an eye out for the man, Morgana slipped into a more crowded crowd, amongst the talkative peasants, busy servants and loud merchants.

'_Is that you Cara?_' Morgana asked, making sure she hadn't got the wrong animal.

'_Yes, it's Cara, please help me right now,_' Cara pleaded though the heavy red covers.

Morgana didn't reply, but instead she stalked the man silently like a tiger ready to pounce onto it's prey. The man passed the enthusiastic orchestra, past King Uther and towards the backdoor, slowly, silently opening it he crept outside. Into the rose garden where Merlin and Arthur were...

'_This can't be good..._' Morgana thought in concern as she continued to follow.

'_I sense Merlin,_' Cara squeaked,'_Warn him! They're after him!_'

Without thinking Morgana went out to search for the prince and his manservant.

* * *

"Well, isn't this _romantic_?"

The sound of Vera's irritated voice sent shivers down Merlin's spine, watching her move closer, Arthur quickly stood up in front of Merlin and spread his arms out protectively, glaring at Vera. Laughing hysterically, Vera moved even closer and continued to intimidate Arthur and Merlin.

"We made a deal, _Arthur Pendragon_," she began as she watched in amusement,"You agreed to be _mine_"

"Only to protect Merlin!" Arthur roared, backing away slowly,"Nobody would want to be with someone like you!"

"Hahaha! You flatter me, then you insult me?!" Vera chuckled,"You _chose_ to do this! Or are you too afraid to hurt you cute little manservant's heart?" she mocked.

Arthur scrowled, he really wanted to punch her, get rid of her, but then she will kill Merlin, and Arthur couldn't stand that. Vera smirked, knowing what Arthur was thinking about, and sent a telepathic message to him. '_Last warning or I'll kill him, in the most painful way ever..._'

'_You wouldn't dare threaten Arthur..._'

Completely surprised by the sudden harsh reply from Merlin, Vera stumbled backwards, tripping over a tree root that was sticking out from the moist soil and fell onto something big. She peeked up and saw the red haired, hairy man, carrying a cage with red covers. Merlin sat there wide eyed while Arthur kept his protective pose and glared at the man.

"Who are you, and what do you want?!" Arthur demanded, not letting his eyes leave the man until he was proved non-suspicious.

"I am Markus McGrath, famous animal tamer and performer from Mercia," the man introduced politely and bowed a little,"It is a pleasure to meet you sire"

Arthur let his guard down a little, seeing the man as no harm and smiled politely, introducing himself as well. Markus then turned to Merlin and gave a warm smile and a nod in reassurance, before going up to him and took his hand, giving it a small kiss. Merlin blushed at the sudden courtesy and looked at the man shyly, then turned away.

"What a beautiful lady you have here sire," Markus complimented, still staring at Merlin, making Merlin nervous and self-conscious,"When did you meet her?"

"She travelled here, she was a pain in neck at first to be honest," Arthur answered truthfully, smiling at the memories that flashed into his mind one by one.

Markus laughed at the statement and then asked,"So what is your name my fair lady? No need to be frightened"

"Uuhhh... Serena Morgan," Merlin lied, sighing inside, he couldn't believe he just used Morgana's name for his fake surname,"Please just call me Serena"

"Ah, nice to meet you Lady Serena," Markus smiled, his thin orange locks swayed gently as he bowed down.

'_Despite his appearance, he's nicer than I thought..._' Arthur thought as he slowly let his guard down completely and relaxed a little, forgetting Vera, who was standing impatiently and in frustration.

'_Here's my chance,_' Vera smirked, silently crept behind Arthur and whispered a silent spell in Latin, making Arthur fall to the ground with a thud.

"Arthur!" Merlin screamed, quickly bolted from his spot and knelt by Arthur's side,"What did you do to him?!"

"It's called a spell _Emrys_, you of all people should know this," Vera mocked, standing beside Markus, who was just staring down at him coldly like a giant iceberg.

'_Run_'

Merlin paused. '_Cara? Where are you?!_'

'_That doesn't matter just RUN! They are after you Merlin!_'

'_But --_'

'_RUN! GET AS FAR AWAY FROM HERE!_' Cara ordered in a scream, making Merlin jump in shock and shout back,'_I CAN'T LEAVE ARTHUR!_'

Without warning, Markus's large fist was in front of Merlin's pale face, sending Merlin backwards with a bloody nose. The wig nearly slid of Merlin's head as he fell backwards, but Morgana's dress was now tainted with red blood, flowing from Merlin's nose.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We didn't mean to dirty that _pretty_ face of yours," Vera laughed at Merlin while Markus just stood there like some kind of doll or dummy.

Suddenly Morgana jumped out of nowhere with a sharp sword and pointed it to Markus and Vera. Merlin felt himself drifting away as he slowly fell on top of Arthur face first and didn't move. At all. Morgana felt herself panicking, she didn't know what to do, whether she should attack or threaten.

"Take Emrys. No. Take them both! The prince would be sold for a lot of money," Vera ordered, taking a glance at Morgana,"I suppose you are against this. _Lady Morgana?_"

Morgana sneered and with a snap, she charged full speed towards Vera. Lifting the sword high above her head, ready to slash. But Vera just chanted a spell. Morgana was now stuck mid air. Frozen.

"Hah! You really think a sword can concur magic?!" Vera exclaimed, enjoying the way Morgana is now stuck,"McGrath! Hurry up!" she ordered harshly.

Markus emotionlessly trudged towards Merlin and Arthur and lifted them both with one arm and carried them over his shoulder, with the cage in the other. Disappearing into the tall trees planted further away, he created a loud howling noise, signaling Vera to come.

"Well, I got to go now, lassie," and with that Vera disappeared into the gloomy dark trees with Markus.

As Vera went further away, Morgana felt herself fall onto the soft grassy ground. It was really dark now, the moon wasn't out tonight and the stars were probably twinkling behind the thick mist of clouds. She slowly felt her way back to the ballroom, with bad news. So bad that Uther would be devastated.

* * *

"WHY DIDN'T YOU GO AFTER HIM?!"

The sound of Uther's angry roar stopped everyone in their tracks and turned their heads to the direction of the argument. Gwen winced as she watched her mistress get yelled at while her mistress tried her very best to defend herself and explain everything.

"I couldn't! The woman used magic!" Morgana argued, her fists clenched in frustration,"Why won't you believe me?!"

"Because magic is banned from Camelot! Their is no way anyone with magical powers, and I mean ANYONE, can get in!" yelled Uther.

"You don't even trust me! Even after all these years! HOW DARE YOU CALL YOURSELF A FATHER TOWARDS ME!" Morgana screamed in anger and stomped off into the silent crowd and slammed the ballroom door shut, letting the bang echo across the room.

Gwen quickly ran after Morgana and shut the door _quietly_this time. Everyone in the ball decided it was time to leave and started to scurry out the door, silently. Uther was standing there fuming with anger, how could he be so careless with the crown prince of Camelot? His only son! Not to mention the fact that his ward decided to have this ball! And now Arthur is kidnapped!!

Sighing on annoyance, Uther called for the maids that were still inside to clean the place up and trudged towards his chambers to calm himself down.

* * *

Outside in the freezing cold, Morgana was out searching for the kidnappers. In her warmest dress, which was made by the finest and healthiest sheeps' wool, Morgana strolled through into the trees with the bright, flaming torch light flicking through where Vera and Markus had left. Following her unwillingly, Gwen was in Morgana's warm woolly jumper and scarf, and was accompanying Morgana in the search.

"A-Are y-you s-sure this i-is t-the right p-place?" Gwen stutter feeling her warm breath as she exhaled into the cold,"Can't we do this tomorrow? It's freezing out here"

"I'm sure this is the right place, and no, we are not searching for them tomorrow unless we don't find them today! The witch and her minion probably would of taken them far away if we continue to wait!" Morgana explained as she jumped over a small tree root that was practically invisible in the darkness.

"Your right, I'm sorry for doubting you, my lady," Gwen apologized sincerely, carefully following Morgana's footsteps.

"You are to call me Morgana, remember?" Morgana smiled at Gwen warmly.

"Y-Yes, Morgana"

Giving Gwen a slight nod and returning to their search, Gwen felt someone pulling at her scarf gently.

"Heard our victims of love have been kidnapped, along with the fawn"

"Oh my goodness! Your nearly gave me a heart-attack!" Gwen exclaimed,"I thought you were one of the kidnappers!"

Lancelot laughed lightly at Gwen's reaction and chuckled,"Aren't you happy to see me?"

Morgana rolled her eyes, the lovebirds are back. The first couple were somewhere she didn't know of and the second pair was flirting with each other in front of her, and in the wrong time! Noticing Morgana's irritated sigh, Gwen immediately apologized to Lancelot and walked over to her mistress.

"I'm sorry, is it alright if Lancelot came along with us?"

"Sure, he would be useful," Morgana approved as she handed the flaring torch to Lancelot and proceeded to the search.

Walking through the-now- dark dense forest, the trio struggled to find anything that was considered useful. There were just sticks, twigs and leaves. Crying out in frustration, Morgana called off the search, noticing Gwen's tired yawn and quickly retracing her previous tracks. Lancelot, who was silent the whole time, spotted a red blanket glowing brightly, lying nearby a tall tree. Signaling Morgana to come, Lancelot handed her the blanket and waited for an answer.

"It's the blanket the man used to cover up Cara in the cage," Morgana stated, examining the blanket closely,"They only just past here, like thirty minutes ago"

Nodding, Morgana led Gwen and Lancelot back to the castle, holding the blanket protectively around her arm. '_To think this giant obstacle would be in the way..._' Morgana pondered quietly.

"You think we can find them?" Gwen's voiced cracked in the silence, a hint of regret could be heard in her tone,"Oh, forget I even asked that" she apologized, looking down to the ground.

"No, it's not your fault," Lancelot put in, trying to make Gwen feel better,"We'll find them. Besides, Arthur is the prince of Camelot and he's pretty strong"

"That's if he could look after himself and not act like he owned the world," Morgana retorted coldly, staring forwards,"But then again, Merlin is there for him"

No-one made a sound as they entered the main entrance of the castle, the only sound was the tapping of shoes and light, quiet chatter from the servants moving around. When Lancelot and the girls parted ways, Gwen gave Lancelot a goodnight kiss on the cheek while Morgana just shook hands with him and went off into the other direction along with Gwen.

"He's going to propose to you," Morgana began bluntly, lifting her dress as she went up the stairs,"You two already act like a married couple"

"Morgana!" Gwen blushed lightly at the statement,"Please don't say anything so embarrassing in public!"

"Public? I don't see anyone," Morgana pushed.

"Oh, don't worry then," Gwen muttered in defeat, jogging up the stairs before Morgana and took Morgana's wrist and dragged her up with her,"You're too slow!"

Morgana laughed, and raced Gwen up the stairs, nearly tripping on the hems of her dress. Stumbling up the last step, Morgana watched Gwen run ahead of her again, this time to her room. '_Wasn't she tired before?!_' Morgana trudged after her, lifting her dress upwards slightly so she could walk faster.

"I thought you were tired!" Morgana exclaimed, her energy completely drained as she shut the door behind her.

"Well, you were wrong then," Gwen smiled, laying out the bed for Morgana,"Here, you need your beauty sleep,_ my lady_"

"I'm not very tired at then moment," Morgana noted, sitting on a chair by her table,"We need to talk about things that girls usually would. We hardly do anymore! Ever since we found out Merlin's _large_ crush"

"You're going to start talking about me and Lance right?" Gwen guessed knowingly,"You know, we should really find someone for you, you're always single and by yourself"

"I'm perfectly happy being single, thank you very much!"

"Don't you get a little lonely? I can't always be there for you. I need some time with Lance occasionally"

"I know, and since when did you start calling Lancelot, Lance?" Morgana smirked, as she crossed her arms, motion Gwen to explain.

"I just decided to..." Gwen trailed off, a shade of cherry blossom pink tinted on her cheeks,"I thought I would be cute..."

"Well, it is," Morgana said, as she pullled out her quill and paper,"Shall we begin?"

"Begin the Merlin and Arthur thing?"

"Yes and no. It's a mix"

"Who's the other couple then?"

"You and Lancelot of course! Who else?"

"The kitchen maid, Sacnite and Anthony, the gardener. They're having trouble communicating"

"Give them advice, like con them into talking," Morgana chuckled evilly at her brilliant plan,"Yes, yes perfect!"

"Morgana... Calm yourself please. The last thing I want is my friends to start_ avoiding_ each other"

"Tsk, tsk, you have such little faith in me sometimes"

"Only in situations like this"

Morgana laughed, she was beginning to love the new _couragous_ Gwen, usually she wouldn't dare talk back to anyone higher or superior than her. Gwen sat herself down on the bed, without Morgana's permission, but Morgana couldn't care less and began starting a new topic.

"You think it would be fun if we became the local _love cupids_?"

"Umm... What? You serious?!"

"Yes I'm serious"

"No, no! Waaay too embarrassing!"

"What's so embarrassing about it? We just help people like Sacnite and that kid Anthony. Not much harm done there"

"Yeah... until we start dressing up in angel wings and carrying love heart arrows around like the time on Christmas..."

"I was excited OK?!"

"I know, your always like that when your excited"

Morgana rolled her eyes while Gwen chuckled at the memories on Christmas. Yawning tiredly, Morgana got up and went to her bed and sat next to Gwen. Gwen walked towards the wardrobe, pulled out Morgana's snow white nightgown and handed it to Morgana, while Morgana strolled to her changing place.

When Morgana was done, she noticed Gwen wasn't there anymore, and tucked herself into the warm covers of her bed. Beside her bed was a note written by Gwen, it said '_Goodnight, Sweet dreams. Maybe we can be the 'local love cupids' that's up to you really_'. Morgana grinned and drifted off to sleep slowly, and there wasn't a single nightmare lurking inside, yet.

* * *

The fire flickered wildly like the bright rays of the sun, a large hut stood lurking in between the high trees. As blackness turned coloured, Merlin found himself staring at a wooden ceiling covered in moss and cobwebs, he sensed a warm body breathing evenly beside him. Finding it hard to turn onto his side, Merlin took a peek from the corner of his eyes. Arthur was sleeping beside him peacefully, breathing in and out evenly. Merlin let out a sigh of relief, but moved his mind onto how long he had been lying here, in this hut.

'_Your awake, how was things going before I disappeared?_' Cara's high voice quietly vibrated into his ears.

'_Nothing much, just been dressing up lately,_' Merlin replied, using his eyes to find Cara's location,'_What have you been up to?_'

'_The occasional annoying, it's working too. They hate having me around_'

'_Hahaha, that's nice to hear,_' Merlin laughed in his mind, feeling the magic tighten around him aggressively,'_What's going on?!_'

'_I'll be quiet now, I advice you do too,_' Cara warned as footsteps became louder and the thumping of them grew heavier.

Before Merlin could say something back, their kidnappers came to view above them, all dark and black. God, Merlin despised these people...

'_About time you woke up_'

'_What are you really planning to do with us?!_'

She didn't reply and moved closer to Arthur and chanted another spell on him, her brown hair floating in mid air as she did so. Merlin couldn't do anything. Couldn't even stop her...

'_There is always someone in the way isn't it...?_'  
______________________________________________________________

_**Good to be back writing! :) Thank you for reviewing.**_


	8. Saving Merlin, Lady Flora's arrival

_**Chap 8: Saving Merlin, Lady Flora's arrival**_

Merlin watched as Vera continued to chant a spell over Arthur. Never feeling quite so hopeless in his life, Merlin closed his eyes and thought. Strategies of destroying Vera flashed into his mind, but none of them seemed useful at the moment. Markus stood, towering over him, making sure he didn't escape or do anything suspicious.

"Arthur Pendragon, stand!" Vera commanded, and to Merlin's astonishment Arthur stood up, but his eyes were cold, still and dead.

Merlin tried to release himself from the spell with his own magic, chanting spells over and over in his mind, but none of them worked. He sensed Cara's distress and anxiety as Vera order Arthur to go bring her to her.

'_No! No! Arthur! Can you hear me?!_' Cara screamed,'_Or are you gonna give up already?!_'

'_Since when did I say I was going to give up?_' Arthur's voice chimed in Merlin's mind, he never felt quite so happy in his life,'_Oh, and if your wondering how I can talk to you? Well, let's just say, I received a sprinkle of magic_'

'_A-Arthur? Does this mean your not actually controlled?_' Merlin choked, his secret was about to be exposed.

Everything went silent, Arthur didn't reply, he seemed a little shocked. Vera smirked, she could hear everything, Cara backed away to the very back of the cage as Arthur strolled closer and closer.

"Emrys, it seems you have officially blown your cover," Vera stated happily, gesturing Markus to pick up Merlin.

'_Stop! Let me go!_' Merlin yelled in his mind,'_Arthur, Arthur!_'

Finally Arthur replied, but it wasn't the reply Merlin was hoping for. '_You lied to me... All this time, I trusted you and you lied to me! Was I not worthy to know such an important secret?!_' he asked in frustration, emotions were pouring into his eyes.

'_Now, now. Isn't this cheesy. That's right, Emrys was afraid to tell you! He was only thinking of himself and how to use you in the end!_' Vera stated as she walked towards me, intimidating me,'_Am I not correct Emrys?_'

Merlin felt tears well up in his eyes as he replied. '_Yes, I was thinking of myself, __**but**__ I would never use you! Even if my life depended on it!_'

After a long pause Arthur's cracked voice drifted into Merlin's mind, a question with few words but meant a lot, '_I believe you_'

Cara smiled happily, Arthur had let Merlin in even if he did have magic. Vera wasn't happy at all. Scrowling, she commanded Markus to drop Merlin into a lake nearby and watch him drown. As Markus carried Merlin towards the door, to the lake, Cara was bashing her head against the cage door until her head was bleeding.

'_Merlin!_' she cried out, watching as her owner was taken to his death bed.

Helplessly walking by Vera's command, Arthur followed, desperate for a way to save Merlin. Vera must have known that Arthur was going to make plans of rescue in his head and tied his hands behind his back with a thick rope, and a collar with string attached to it, he was like a dog walking with it's master...

* * *

"MERLIN!"

Gwen rushed into the room as Morgana sat in her bed panting and sweating madly. She had another nightmare again, this time Merlin was dying. Sinking deeper and deeper into the dark, clear waters of an unknown lake. Gwen wiped of the sweat off Morgana's forehead and tried soothing her with calm words.

"Shhhhh, what happened?" she murmured as Morgana clung onto her sleeves,"Another nightmare? Didn't you take the medicine that Gaius gave you?"

Morgana shook her head in response. "N-No, they never work" she began,"Even if I do take it, there will be no change"

Patting her on the shoulder, Gwen pulled out of Morgana's grip and gently tucked her into bed. She was use to this, the screaming, the fear, but there was always something that she would wonder about and it was answered on the day when Vera was about to murder them. Still... How did this all happen? And why?

"So, what happened to Merlin?" Gwen asked quietly,"Did something happen to him?"

"H-He d-drowning!" Morgana stammered violently, as Gwen patted her on the back,"It was Vera who was murdering him!" she cried out, when she stopped stammering.

Gwen was taken aback, her eyes widened. Morgana abruptly stood up, and ran out of her room while Gwen tried her hardest to stop her.

"We have to save him!!!" Morgana nearly screamed, but Gwen stopped her by covering her mouth.

"Fine, we'll go, but I'll bring Silvester with us. We'll need someone who's strong enough to fight," Gwen told Morgana as they ran towards her house.

* * *

In Gwen's house, Silvester was wide awake, he had sensed something was wrong. Faith and Roswell were awake too, and were standing in the corner of the room, huddling together for some kind of protection.

BAM!

Gwen and Morgana tumbled in. Silvester ran up to them, Faith screamed in fright, Roswell pulled her closer, reassuring her that it was only Gwen and Morgana. Quickly ushering them inside Gwen explained what happened and what Morgana's nightmare told them. Silvester sat and listened, while Faith and Roswell parted from the corner, feeling a bit safer since the grown ups are back.

"How do you know if these dreams are real?" Silvester asked, "We can't just walk into the forest, just because of a dream!"

"We have to trust Morgana! This isn't the only time one of her dreams came true," Gwen stated, "And we need someone strong to come along with us"

"Why can't you take Lancelot?"

"Uther had ordered him to protect the kingdom in Arthur's place for now"

Silvester nodded, thinking deeply. "Fine I'll go, but I'll take the twins with me"

"But they are so young! We can't risk losing another life! And Gaius ordered me to look after you!" Gwen protested frantically.

"Yes, but this is Merlin we are talking about, a friend who is about to be killed," Silvester murmured darkly,"Besides, these two know very well how to defend themselves"

Faith and Roswell nodded in unison, chests puffed forwards and their heads held high. Silvester looked at Gwen and Morgana, until they both agreed that the twins could come. Faith and Roswell cheered, but both knew. This was not a game.

* * *

The forest was really dense tonight, and the mist just made it worse. Faith used her tiny legs to jump over the roots and small bushes that were in her way. Roswell bravely stood at the back, so he could signal the others if anyone or _thing_ might be chasing after them.

At the front, Morgana investigated her surrounding every two seconds, checking for any suspicious tracks or objects hanging around. Gwen and Silvester were on the look out for huts and lakes that Vera might have taken Merlin to. Suddenly, Faith cried out for help, running in Gwen's direction.

The howling of grey wolves could be heard close by. Bright, yellow eyes flashed from behind the bushes and trees. Silvester prepared himself for the attack, but nothing happened, the howling had stopped. But soon enough, a large pack of wolves came rushing through the trees, like shadows appearing and disappearing. Gwen screamed, picking up Faith and ran for her life. Silvester picked up Roswell and sprinted along with Morgana and Gwen. Morgana was panting heavily, her eye's wild with fright. Faith was crying in Gwen's arms, covering her face from the wolves chasing behind them.

There was one thing that Silvester did not understand. Why were the wolves attacking people?! Normally they would be peacefully searching for bigger fatter prey to hunt down! And why one earth are their eyes flashing _green_?! One reason. Magic. Somebody has enchanted the wolves, and that someone he knew very well...

"FOLLOW ME!!" Silvester yelled, leaping on the rocks across a rushing river, with Roswell buried in his arms.

Morgana didn't hesitate and leaped across, flawlessly. Gwen on the other hand, slowly hopped across, but once the wolves came nearer, she leaped across. Silvester led them deeper into the forest, and further and further away from Camelot.

"Where are you taking us?!" Morgana yelled amongest the howling and growling of the wolves that were still trailing after them,"I don't think we can last any longer!"

Silvester frantically searched around. There it was, the raging waterfall of the Scales. This was place were dragons come to rest in peace and rage battles for mates. Motioning them to catch up, they ran behind the waterfall and slowed down.

It was pitch dark here, and there was no life in sight. Faith's quivering and weeping could be heard loud and clear in the dark wilderness. Silvester felt his way through the darkness, with his free hand while Gwen and Morgana held onto Silvester's shirt. The howling of the wolves couldn't be heard anymore, but that doesn't mean they are not here, in the same cave as them.

Silently trudging along, they saw a small exit. Silvester ran up to it, but the hole was way too small for them to all fit inside. Scanning around in the places tha he could see, he picked up a sharp, fallen stalactite and stabbed it against the rocky wall. Hopefully, the hole would expand. It did, but not big enough. Morgana joined in, trusting a large heavy rock on the hole, and crumble went the dirt and clay.

"Freedom at last!!!" Morgana yelled out, while Silvester covered the hole with a large boulder near the exit.

"Not yet, Merlin needs saving," Silvester broke in.

Gwen looked across. They were standing by a crystal clear lake, the reflection of the full moon and stars were noticeable from a mile away, lush flowers could be seen at the other side of the lake. As she looked closer, she spotted four people stroll towards the lake. One was blond and was held prisoner and the other was in flowing dress, roughly held a big man.

"Oh my god! It's Merlin!"

The rest spun their heads around and hid themselves behind a large brown rock. Silvester crawled near the water and dived inside, with his clothes on. Morgana took out a knife that she was hiding in her pocket the whole time, ready to thrust it towards Markus or Vera. Faith and Roswell had brought their bow and arrows and held them up, ready to shoot while Gwen sat behind them, with all the herbs and bandages needed for any severe injuries.

Everyone was ready for battle...

* * *

Back in the hut, Cara was desperately trying to break out of the cage. Smashing her head against the metal poles, until her head began to bleed. She cried in frustration, as she bucked at the door.

Crash!

The metal cage door, fell onto the door. Cara galloped out of the cage, towards the door, jumped higher enough to turn the old wooden doorknob and rush out to into the forest to rescue Merlin. She sprinted past the lurking trees, sending leaves flying about behind her. Unknown to her though... An old wise dragon watched as one chases after another through a large pool of fresh water...

_Remember the riddle I have told you... Remember, remember..._

'_Philip_?!" Cara called out,'_Where are you, Philip_?!'

_Remember, remember... The riddle, of love and time...._

Flashes of the riddle Philip had told her came rolling into her mind. But the problem was, Arthur and Merlin had already confessed, right? Then she remembered Vera, and how she threatened Arthur to be with her otherwise she would destroy Merlin. Cara still ran, until she finally reached the lake. She then remembered.

'_The riddle of love and time, he actually meant 'The Lake of Love and Time'..._' she gasped as she saw Morgana and the rest hiding behind a rock,'_So, it's a battle to save the dearest of friends..._'

As Vera was about to order Markus to dip Merlin into the lake, Cara charged full speed towards Markus and bit him on the leg really hard. Markus screamed in pain, dropping Merlin into the water accidently. Vera screamed in annoyance, pulling her hazelnut brown hair while Arthur just smirked.

Merlin flapped his arms about, he could swim but the dress was tangled around his legs, so he couldn't kick properly. Silvester came swimming towards him, grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the freezing water. Vera yelled, took out a knife and pressed it against Arthur's neck.

"Don't even think about killing me! Or else!" she warned, pressing the knife further, until a trickle of crimson blood oozed out onto the knife,"Or else the prince dies!"

Arthur's eyes filled with pain as the knife was pushed furthur into flesh, he couldn't risk talking, otherwise he would die. Merlin and Silvester froze. Morgana and Gwen stopped the twins from firing the arrows. Sensing the pause, Vera took her chance and let Arthur go, but ran away in the progress while Markus followed her.

Silvester cursed, he couldn't believe he let them slip away. Merlin tried to calm him down while Arthur sat up wiping the blood dripping from his neck. Prancing towards Arthur, Cara licked the blood away and nuzzled his arm, as if to ask whether he was alright. Arthur laughed and picked Cara up, giving her a pat on the head.

'_You did well out there. I see biting is your style_,' Arthur praised, remembering Merlin and his magic,'_Hey, idiot manservant!_'

Merlin turned his head, but shied away from Arthur, he really didn't want Arthur to hate him... Arthur rolled his eyes, and motioned Merlin to come. Merlin hesitated, until Silvester couldn't take the annoying love-dovey couple and shoved Merlin towards Arthur, making him fall onto Arthur's lap.

Sitting straight up, Arthur pulled Merlin up, so he could face him. Merlin tried his hardest to not stare into those baby-blue eyes, but miserblely failed. Arthur seemed relieved, and dragged Merlin into a tight hug.

"Thought you were gonna disappear, before I got to do certain things with you," Arthur whispered into Merlin's ear,"Promise you won't die before I do?"

Merlin gaped. "This a heart warming time and you talking about who's dying first?!" he said angrily,"No-body is gonna die at the moment, thank you very much!"

Arthur laughed, getting up and helped Merlin get up onto his feet. Morgana's dress was now wet, dirty and covered in loose grass. One look at it, the sight wasn't pretty at all... Morgana's _not_ going to be pleased...

"What are we going to do about this?" Merlin asked staring at the dress,"I doubt Morgana will be happy about this"

"Yeah..." Arthur trailed off, the blood dripping from the cut on his neck dried up and turned into a scab.

"Sorry to shove this unfortunate thing to you but... Morgana kinda standing on the other side of the lake, looking at you in annoyance," Silvester put in, pointing at a tall woman with dark hair, standing by the lake with her hands on her hips, tapping her foot at the same time.

"Oh dear..." Arthur and Merlin murmured in unison as they tried to cover up the messed up dress.

Morgana laughed, motioning Gwen to come out of hiding with Faith and Roswell. Slowly and cautiously stumbling out of hiding, Gwen held the blond twins hands tightly, on complete alert. Morgana led them around the lake, towards Arthur, Merlin and Silvester.

"Silver! Silver! Look what found!" Faith called out, jumping around Gwen until she got tired,"It's a big Quartz!"

Silvester investigated it; the Quartz was large, a bit too large, it was sharp and pointy with the colour of the crimson blood of a normal human being, it smelt bad too, like of rotting cheese and eggs. Throwing the Quartz into the water, he noticed how the water began to turn murky and dirty. Mud stared to swirl around in a big circular motion in the middle of the lake. From crystal blue to crimson red...

"What happened?!" Roswell asked wide eyed, pointing at the crimson whirlpool,"Is that even possible?!"

Gwen and Morgana didn't like this one bit, and quickly led the twins away from the banks of the lake. Cara gazed at it, thinking... '_This is the Lake of Love and Time, blue is the cold heart of the lonely, red is the warm beating heart of the loved, when the right time comes, the lake's Quartz will turn the lake into a magical place, for life to blossom..._'

Merlin, Morgana, Silvester and Arthur heard, quickly watched as Cara move a bit too close towards the whirlpool. Merlin held Cara in her place, hoping she won't fight him off and jump to her death. Silvester and Arthur stood beside Merlin and Cara, making sure she won't do anything she'll regret while Morgana tried to convince Cara to stop and think.

'_What on earth are you thinking_?!' Morgana shouted telepathically,'_Do you want to jump to your death_?!'

'_The riddle... It said that one life for another. The Quartz creates life, so in order for it to work, one will have to be a sacrifice..._' Cara explained solemnly.

'_Why?! This has nothing to do with us_!' Morgana screamed, stomping towards Cara,'_How could you say you'll be a sacrifice for something that we do not need_!'

'_Who said we don't need it? Didn't you want the prince and the manservant to love each other and be together_?' Cara pushed as Morgana was now fuming in anger.

"Merlin and Arthur already love each other! We do not need this stupid love lake!" Morgana shouted,"So you don't have to kill yourself!"

"Morgana's right," Merlin whispered, stroking Cara's fur,"Who told you this?"

'_Philip, the dragon..._'

'_I knew it... That sneaky old creature, never stops with the games_!' Merlin thought in disgust, standing up, lifting Cara up into his arms,"If you want a sacrifice we'll give you one! Arthur and I will go hunting tomorrow morning and give this lake a rabbit"

Silvester nodded, and with that everyone steadily went back towards Camelot.

* * *

Back at Camelot, Gaius was going through his dusty, thick, old books of Science and the secret one of Magic. Flipping through them frantically, he found a picture of a cloaked man and a long staff made of silver and gold, underneath the picture was information about this man.

'_Scientist and Sorcerer, Philip Gerand. Was known for mixing magic and science together, making everything seem to make sense and reasonable. One night on a crescent moon, he was cursed by this woman with piercing blue eyes and raven hair, along with her assistant, a young man known for art, __Ealadha O'Sullivan. On that day, Philip has lived a life as one of the rarest creatures in the entire world... The Great Dragon..._'

As Gaius continued to read the article, he immediately rushed out of the room and towards the dragon's lair. In the dragon's lair, Gaius carefully watched his step and called out into the dark, spacious cave.

"Dragon? Philip Gerand?!"

Suddenly a tonne of air was forced against him, sending him backwards. There stood in front of him though, was the Philip Gerand, the great dragon. Philip didn't sound happy at all, nor did look it. Gaius bowed down a little, making himself seem humble and went straight to the point.

"Are truelly the Philip Gerand that the King of Britian has been searching for twenty-six years?" Gaius asked as he held up the article.

"And what if I am? I have lived for more than one thousand years now and that king has already passed away, even if I did turn 'back' into a human, where am I going to go?" Philip reasoned, shrugging his dragon shoulders.

Gaius nodded in agreement and thanked Philip for listening to him and left. While Gaius left, Philip stared into the clear pool and dripped a bit of red blood into it, waiting for a certain reaction to take place...

* * *

When there reached Camelot, Arthur found Lancelot running up to him, dropped a heavy sword in his arms and took off. Gwen raised her eyebrow, taking a look at the sword, Arthur's sword alright. Merlin laughed, along with Morgana and Silvester while Faith and Roswell stood there rather clueless.

Uther came running from the door and gave a BIG hug to his son. Arthur was taken aback for a second there. His father? King of Camelot? The coldest person around? Was hugging him! For the first time too! Morgana couldn't hold it in anymore, and burst out laughing so hard that she fell to the ground. Arthur glared at her, and stuck his tongue out childishly.

The group all laughed (including the twins) and gave Arthur a pat on the back, while Arthur just went red and tried to look indifferent. Morgana rolled her eyes and smiled at Arthur sending him a telepathic message.

'_You haven't confessed yet have you_?'

Arthur paused for a second before replying. '_Not with words i haven't, but with actions yes. Depends how you put it,_' he mumbled in his mind.

'_Well you better, this is a punishment for ruining my favourite dress_'

Ignoring Morgana's last remark, Arthur trudged off towards Merlin and began to chat with him. Morgana chuckled, but in her mind, she knew this friendly act isn't going to last forever, and Arthur will probably be asking for more than a light kiss on the lips. Cara heard what was on her mind and agreed with her.

Remembering the feast that will be on in two days, Morgana figured it would be a good time to set the two up and begin confessing their feelings. With that, she rushed up to Uther and whispered her idea in his ear.

"You want Arthur to confess his love to a certain someone at the feast?" Uther muttered quietly, thinking about it.

"Yes! It would be a good chance! Since he's quite shy for a boy," Morgana urged on, putting on her best puppy eyes,"PLEASE!!"

Sighing Uther mumbled,"Fine..."

Morgana cheered and gave Uther a big hug. Merlin and Arthur, who were walking behind them gaped at them in shock. Merlin crept behind Arthur while Arthur coughed into his hand, as if saying 'Awkward...'

"At least I have the guts to hug the man that I call my father," Morgana retorted,"Unlike _somebody_"

Glaring at her, Arthur stomped past her and into the castle, dragging Merlin along with him. Faith and Roswell decided it would be fun in the castle (their first time inside the castle) and ran after Arthur and Merlin. The two boys didn't notice them until they ran up to them and jumped onto their backs.

"Yay! Piggy-back rides into the castle!" cheered Faith, holding onto Arthur's golden locks while Arthur tried to get her hands off his head.

"Go horsey, go!" Roswell ordered, his hands waving in the air.

Merlin groaned and began running, but the dress he was wearing wasn't much help to him, as he kept tripping over it constantly. Arthur on the other hand, had absolutely no trouble taking Faith into the castle, running as quickly as possible, entertaining the little girl immensely.

"Woohoo!" she yelled out as Arthur sprinted inside.

Merlin laughed as he caught up with Arthur, and dropped Roswell onto the ground lightly and held onto the boy's hand. Roswell pouted, not liking the fact that he had to walk the whole way. Morgana, Uther, Gwen, Silvester and Cara all walked past him and gave a little pat on the head in pity. But Silvester was the only one that came back and decided to give Roswell a Piggy-back ride in the end.

The only thing in Cara's mind at the moment was, _What on earth was Philip thinking? And what was that Quartz meant to do to the Lake?_'

* * *

When Gaius had heard that Merlin and Arthur had returned, he immediately rushed outside to greet them. Running down the spiral stairs, Gaius accidentally ran into a tall young lady, apologizing and looking up he saw a pair of deep grey eyes, like the storm clouds above in the sky, her black hair was tied up in a small bun and her dress was so long that it trailed along behind her.

"You must be Gaius, Uther Pendragon's most trusted physician," she said quietly, putting her hand out, helping Gaius up onto his feet,"You shouldn't be running around, especially at that age"

"Well, you know what youngsters are like. Constant activity," Gaius remarked,"You must be Lady Flora, one of Italy's favourite princesses"

Lady Flora nodded, her black hair falling into her eyes. "I heard of this Merlin boy, that Prince Arthur is very attached to"

"Merlin? Where on earth did you hear that from?" Gaius asked in shock,"Merlin is the boy that I'm looking after in Camelot, Prince Arthur's manservant"

"Manservant?" Lady Flora rose her eyebrow in disbelief,"I'm pretty sure the pretty lady with flowing raven hair was Prince Arthur's _maid_servant, though she did look much too pretty to be one"

"Oh, that's Guinevere, Morgana's maidservant," Gaius stated, as he tried to pass her, so he could talk to the others,"Excuse me, but I have to go"

"May I come with you?"

"Yes of course you may"

With that, Gaius and Lady Flora walked to the throne room where King Uther would be, sitting on his throne in boredom. Inside the throne room though, was a sight that would shock all the Camelot people till they fainted. Faith and Roswell were clay all over the room, while Gwen and Silvester tried their hardest to stop them.

"Mudball FIGHT!!!" Faith yelled out, tossing a large bulk of mud onto Roswell's face while she tried to dodge Roswell's attacks.

"STOP!!" Uther yelled loudly, stomping into the room,"WHAT IS THIS?!"

Faith and Roswell dropped the mud and ran from the room, leaving Gwen and Silvester to explain for them. Silvester cursed while Gwen felt like fainting. Laughing softly, Lady Flora strutted into the room, not minding the fact that her extremely long pale dress was going to be cover in dirty, sticky mud. Being a courteous man Gaius was, he picked up the trailing part of the dress and held it up, so the mud wouldn't get to it.

"Now, now, let children be children," she smiled at Uther sweetly,"I'm Lady Flora, from Italy, in Rome"

Uther calmed down and shook her hand, not noticing Gwen and Silvester slip out of the throne room. Lady Flora gave them a wink when Uther began giving Gaius orders and smiled at them as they ran out of the room. Turning back to Uther she waited till Gaius left the room before she began to speak.

"My father decided to start the feast earlier, considering the fact that he has a lot to do on the day after tomorrow. He wants it to begin tomorrow. He'll bring his finest horses and will not tolerate half hearted work," she told Uther as she scanned the room,"I guess you'll really need to clean up this mess then"

Uther nodded, and excused himself while Lady Flora's boredom got the better of her and she decided to take a little tour around the castle herself. Also, she wanted to see what Prince Arthur was like and especially his servant, man or maid.

"Arthur! Stop it! Your hurting me!"

Lady Flora stopped in front of Arthur's door and pressed her ear against it. The voice belonged to a boy, '_So it was a __**man**__servant then..._' she thought in mischief and knocked on the door lightly.

"May I come in?" she asked, waiting for a reply, but there was silence, like as if the people inside didn't want her to find out their secret,"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you little secret. Especially you, your majesty"

"Y-You may come in"

Plastering on her best smile, Lady Flora opened the door slowly, only to find a slender young boy with a dirty, long flowing dress falling of his shoulders and a long black wig that was half falling off. She didn't know how long she had stared into those stunning ocean-blue eyes, but all she knew was that she seemed a bit enchanted.

"Who are you?" the blond spoke up,"What is your business here?"

Returning to reality, Lady Flora politely introduced herself. "Lady Flora, from Italy. Princess of Rome, daughter of King Vernon"

Arthur nodded in approval and let her fully inside. Merlin on the other hand, tried his hardest not to look embarrassed, because of the dress he was wearing. Lady Flora laughed, and reassured Merlin that she thought the dress looked stunning on him. Calmed down, Merlin smiled happily and pulled out a young fawn out from under the table and told her to say hello.

"Say hello"

But Cara didn't say anything, didn't even respond, because she had bumped into this woman before and nor was it a wonderful encounter either...+  
__________________________________________________________________________++

**_Thank you for reviewing! :) Oh, and I'm kinda having trouble figuring which genre this fanfic should be... It's definitely romance, but it's not just romance. If you can, please put a comment on which genre (besides romance) it should be... Thank you :)_**


	9. Traitor's Secret Revealed

**Chapter 9: Traitor's Secret Revealed **

When Lady Flora entered the room, Cara's senses immediately become alert and she became very, very cautious. Merlin noticed this and asked her what was wrong, but Cara didn't answer and shot Lady Flora a foul glare. Lady Flora rolled her eyes and flapped her petite hand in front of her face, indicating that someone was in a bad mood, but this made the young deer twice as alert and annoyed.

"I apologize for Cara's misbehaviour today. She's not very fond of strangers," Arthur stated, obviously reading Merlin's concerned mind and gave Lady Flora a hard stare, "Will you excuse us? We kind of need to do something if you haven't noticed earlier"

Lady Flora nodded and walked out of the room silently, leaving Merlin with a beetroot red face, a snickering Arthur and a relieved Cara. Glaring at Arthur, Merlin mumbled something about a pervert and a dirty minded prat, while Cara kept laughing in her head, allowing both of the boys to hear.

"Are you going to change out of the dress? Or are you willing to become woman? I can always arrange a sex change," Arthur remarked, leaning against the bed post.

Merlin gaped at him, mouth wide open in shock at the suggestion. Cara broke out laughing and nearly ended up crying from laughter. Arthur as always, smirked smugly and leaned forward, whispering something into Merlin's ear. As Merlin's eyes grew wider and wider, Cara couldn't help but to wonder what they were talking about and pranced up to them.

"You want it tonight?" Arthur's whispered quietly into Merlin's ear, "I didn't know you were _that_ desperate, I can tell from the look in your eyes"

"Arthur..." Merlin mumbled in embarrassment, "Cara's in the room"

Cara gave him a funny look and rolled her eyes in annoyance, but didn't move from her spot, which seemingly began to piss Arthur off.

'_If your two really want to __**do it**__, you might as well say so! It's not like I'm gonna prance around the whole castle and yell out the prince is fucking his manservant,_' Cara blurted out with no shame what so ever, '_What? Stop looking at me like that!_'

Merlin and Arthur both knew the young fawn was inexperienced and did not particularly know the rules of status in the castle. Even so, that was rather embarrassing and shocking to here out loud and clear. Fortunately though, it was said telepathically, otherwise whoever might have walked by might have heard.

'_Cara, you shouldn't say things like that so casually... Especially to a prince..._' Merlin scolded, but Cara just backfired.

'_Since when did you care about status?_'

Arthur listened in amusement. This conversation sounded so much like a mother teaching her child about discipline and manners, which Merlin was failing at. As Merlin tried to bring up something to teach Cara to not say dirty words in public, Cara would just say something right back and it was beginning to irritate and tire Merlin.

"Wow, you're losing to a deer," Arthur remarked, "And I thought you had the intelligence of an animal... Well, I was wrong there"

Merlin glared at him, "Shut up... No need to shove it in my face"

"Oh sorry, I was just stating the truth," Arthur pushed, lifting his hands up to his chest, telling Merlin to chill, "Actually that's not true in your eyes, but to everyone else's... Especially the clever ones like me and Cara"

"It's Cara and _I_"

Arthur rolled his eyes and repeated what Merlin said, "True to Cara and _I _then"

'_Hahaha, the prince got owned by his own words, nicely done Merlin,_' Cara praised as Merlin chuckled while Arthur felt like digging a large hole for him to hide in.

Clearing his throat, Arthur got Merlin's attention and glared at Cara until she gave up on the jokes and lifted her head obediently waiting for something to happen.

'_If you guys were wondering, I'm not that fond of Lady Flora, although she is a kind, fair woman,' _Cara told them sincerely, _'I've just met her before and it wasn't particularly a wonderful encounter either... But then again, that was in the past'_

Merlin seemed a bit worried as Cara continued to tell her story. Arthur took a seat on the bed and placed Merlin's wig beside him. He really needed Merlin to take off that dress...

'_It was on October 14__th__ and mother and I were out taking our everyday morning strolled throw the forest,' _Cara started, sitting down like Arthur and Merlin, _'Then there was the sound of a lady in distress, so like my mother would always do, she let her curiosity get the better of her and sneaked behind a bush, watching the woman'_

Arthur noticed that whenever the young fawn mentioned her mother she would cringe and shiver a little and then return to the story like nothing happened. Just by doing that, it made him feel bad about killing her mother. '_This is probably the reason why Merlin doesn't hunt,'_ he thought quietly, hoping Cara didn't hear him.

Although Cara didn't hear, Merlin certainly did and he frowned, giving his lover a pat on the knee, trying to comfort him non-verbally.

'_The woman was Lady Flora, well that's what she introduced herself as, but after my mother decided to ask what's wrong, the Lady Flora knew we were magic, you know, the telepathy, and after two days, some men came and kidnapped me from my mother. I couldn't say anything back then but I definitely knew who was behind this...'_ Cara said in distaste, '_Still remember that laughing face till now...'_

Merlin gave both Arthur and Cara a concerned look, "Do you think she's up to something? Why did she come here in the first place?" he asked in suspicion.

"The feast, that's why she came," Arthur answered in a straight-forward manner, "She did say that remember?"

"Yeah, why by herself though? And how on earth can a woman come here by herself? Especially all the way from Rome, _Italy_" Merlin persisted, giving Arthur his most serious look, "I don't trust her"

"Merlin, have you ever been this suspicious?" Arthur's tone of voice came out harsh, "Besides, I doubt a _woman _can be a serious threat to us"

'_A-hem, have you forgotten about Vera O'Sullivan? She was pretty dangerous, funny thing is, you even got lured into her bloody trap!'_ Cara pointed out.

"That's really true... I reckon women are most threatening sometimes, like you can't hurt a lady because of your honour and you would break the knight's code if you did so," Merlin stated, standing up and pulled on his tunic, letting the gown full halfway down to his waist.

Arthur thought for a second, "That's true... But if the woman is causing problems to our people then I'll kill her," he said bluntly.

"Arthur! How could you say that so casually?"

"I'm a prince, born to do so I guess"

Cara rolled her eyes, '_Well, I'm going to check up on Lady Flora, its better if I kept an eye on her and her actions' _she informed the boys as she left the room by turning the doorknob with her mouth and trotted away.

"So what do we do now?" Merlin asked, staring blankly at the opened door.

"First we get you changed!" Arthur exclaimed, shutting the door loudly to get Merlin's attention, "Don't expect me to be gentle on you"

The last statement made Merlin blush beetroot red and backed away from the prince. Arthur sighed; this wasn't going to be easy was it?

First walking slowly towards Merlin so he wouldn't frighten the boy and then he pounced on top of him keeping him grounded, but Merlin was wincing and crying out, 'Help! Help!' which immediately put Arthur off. Being a persistent prat he was, Arthur shut Merlin up by giving him a deep kiss which sent him off somewhere into his dreams.

Now, it was about time he changed Merlin's clothes. Heaving another heavy sigh, Arthur began to do his obligated duty.

* * *

Morgana was sick and tired of Gwen and Lancelot's constant newly wedded couple actions, seriously, did they have to blush and kiss everyday in front of her?

Sitting by the table, Morgana stared at the list of gifts that they were meant to hand out, but so much was happening lately that they hardly had time to give the presents to Arthur. Not to mention the fact that the empire of Rome was coming over to visit, but none came and only Lady Flora came. Although she said they were coming late, Morgana didn't really believe her.

"I find that Lady Flora suspicious," she said out of the blue, interrupting Gwen and Lancelot.

"Why? What is the matter?" Gwen asked in concern while Lancelot also gave Morgana a worried expression, "Did she do something?"

Morgana shook head lightly, "It's not that she did something to me, it's that I feel that she's going to do something"

The couple exchanged worried glances, "Are you sure about this?" they both asked.

"No, I'm not to be honest," Morgana sighed; all this was giving her a major headache, "Can you leave me alone for a bit? I think I have a headache"

"Are you alright? I can't just leave you here!" Gwen persisted, rushing up to Morgana, "I'll get you water"

Morgana shook her head, declining the offer, "I just need some peace and quiet," she told them as she stood up and went towards her bed, "Thank you for the offer though"

Gwen and Lancelot bowed before they left the mistress in peace. When they had left, Morgana heaved another heavy sigh and laid down in the bed, staring out the window.

She had wondered why things were turning out this way. First Vera and Marcus, now this Lady Flora joins the torture. Sometimes she wonders why these people just keep popping out of nowhere and annoying them immensely. There was the matter of Arthur and Merlin as well, having the fact that two _boys_ falling for each other won't be easy, especially with Uther Pendragon as the King and knowing him, he'll probably accuse Merlin of enchanting Arthur or just have him executed on the spot. Life certainly wasn't all about fun anymore.

Out the window Morgana spotted Arthur training by himself, swinging and slashing against his imaginary enemy. Merlin was crouching down picking up Arthur's other swords and dumping them in front of the busy prince. After doing so, Arthur was yelling at him about how stupid the manservant was; Morgana could hear Arthur shout from the window. She couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

The image of Cara faded into her mind, where had that deer been? Morgana began to wonder, she was considering going to search for the fawn. Getting out of bed, she strutted to the door and went out, silently closing it behind her.

* * *

The grass was dry and yellow, the trees were nearly losing all its leaves, and the sky was dark grey, this all indicated that winter was on its way. Merlin was getting bored of picking up swords and dropping them here and there just because Arthur told him to. Arthur on the other hand was enjoying this, although he bossed Merlin around a lot, he couldn't resist but to watch Merlin picking up his equipment and placing it everywhere he ordered him to. He guessed this was kind of like a test to see how loyal Merlin was, but his manservant obviously knew this test, and he really wanted Arthur to get the point. He was not going anywhere and was forever his.

"I'm bored," Arthur whined like a five year old, "You can take that to the armoury now"

"Yes sire," Merlin muttered under his breath, hoping Arthur didn't hear him mutter the word 'prat' as he dragged the swords up to the armoury.

Arthur luckily didn't hear and was following Merlin into the castle. He had always wondered why Merlin was so skinny but far from fragile, useless when it came to physical fighting but still manages to be stronger than he looked. Recently he began noticing the cracked mark on Merlin's lips as if he had been peeling them due to anxiety and the light bags under his eyes indicating that he hadn't been sleeping well. All this was worrying Arthur.

"Merlin, have you been sleeping well?" he asked, walking beside Merlin, "Bags under your eyes are forming."

Merlin gave a startled look at him before lightly touching the bottom of his eye, "Really? I've been sleeping really well lately" he lied, trying not to stutter or stammer, "Why? What's bothering you till you actually began caring about me?" he joked this time, pulling on a bright smile.

Arthur didn't find this at all funny, "We all know how bad you are at lying so don't even try to do it again," he informed, turning his face so he could make eye contact with the boy, "Since when on this bloody earth did I _not_ care for you?" he hissed seriously, glaring at Merlin.

"It was a joke Arthur," Merlin gulped as Arthur closed in and invaded his personal space, "I didn't mean to make it sound offensive"

"Well, I wasn't funny then was it?" Arthur hissed darkly, his face was now inches away from Merlin's, "I'll have you know that you're most likely going to be punished for talking, no, _thinking_ so lowly of your prince"

"You did strip me naked when I was in my sleep, it was pretty sly to kiss me then do something like that," Merlin noted.

"First you just wouldn't shut up so I used the kiss to quieten you down but instead to fell asleep. Secondly, you needed to change out of that bloody dress but you as you always are a useless manservant that had to fall asleep so damn quickly. Thirdly, it was not like I _wanted _to strip you naked alright?" Arthur practically yelled in Merlin's face, not noticing the one drop of tear rolling down his lover's cheek.

"Then I'm sorry for being such a _useless _manservant!" Merlin's voice cracked as he tried to hold back tears, "I thought you liked me this way..."

A pang of guilt hit Arthur hard when his eyes trailed from Merlin's eyes to his cheek where the tear was still falling, "Oh god, I'm sorry" he whispered as he gently wiped off the tear, "You may be a useless manservant, but not a pathetic boyfriend that's for sure"

Merlin looked up, his eyes brightened, "Really, you mean it?"

Nodding, Arthur gave his best smile, "Of course," he said sincerely.

Merlin's eyes flashed a tint of gold as his mouth broadened into one of his famous smiles. Arthur was glad to see his manservant happy again, but when his eyes flashed gold, Arthur suddenly felt a little bit of fear form in the pit of his stomach. How can your eyes flash another colour? With that question lurking in his head, Arthur tried to shrug the feeling of curiosity off, but something was telling him that Merlin was hiding something from him.

Merlin didn't realise his eyes flashed and continued his way towards the castle, humming the recent song the court jester was singing in public. Arthur remembered the song as _The Prince and his Best friend _and was quite popular in the kingdom at the moment.

"_Me and you, always together_," Merlin sung quietly, "_Day by day, I try to love you like no other"_

Arthur covered Merlin's mouth with his hands as they entered the castle, "Really Merlin, you know how bad you can sing," he laughed as Merlin tried to uncover his mouth.

Letting go of Merlin's mouth, Arthur peered behind the manservant's shoulder. There was Lady Flora; she was strutting along by the windows, making no sound whatsoever. Merlin sensed her presence and grabbed onto Arthur's tunic, biting his bottom lip vigorously while Arthur was trying to calm him down.

Lady Flora noticed them and flashed them a sweet smile, "Ah, we meet again," she said warmly as she motioned closer towards them, "What is wrong?"

Merlin wanted to run, but Arthur stopped him before he even got the chance.

"My lady," Arthur greeted politely, "We were just heading to the armoury"

"Ah, I can see that," she pointed out, staring at the swords in Merlin's arms, "What I meant was. Why are you fretting young one?" she asked softly at Merlin, "Do need some help?"

Arthur scoffed, "No, he's fine, it is his job after all"

Lady Flora persisted and tried to take the swords, "No, no, I insist. Prince Arthur, job or not, I am offering" she smiled.

Without saying a word, Merlin handed over the swords and took a step back cautiously. Lady Flora thanked him and headed towards the armoury, leaving Arthur and Merlin in a bit of bewilderment.

"Right, this proves that even a _woman_ is more useful and stronger than you are," Arthur noted while Merlin rolled his eyes.

As they watched Lady Flora go, Merlin decided to meet up with Gwen, but Arthur stopped him and tried to convince him to joining him to the lake again; the lake that they swam in, the one that they fought with Vera in.

Merlin sighed and nodded, following Arthur towards the stables that Merlin hadn't mucked out yet. He just hoped Arthur wouldn't realise the stench and the horrid appearance of the stables, he didn't want to muck out the stables when he could enjoy his time with Arthur.

Proud was standing tall, leaning against the wall, chewing on some hay, his mane was getting long and was flowing heavily down his neck and forehead, covering his eyes. He sensed Arthur's presence and immediately shot up from the wall and trotted to the front of his box, ready for Arthur to give him a present like he always would.

"Hahaha, here you go," Arthur chuckled at Proud's behaviour and took out a ripe red apple from under his tunic, "I bet you're hungry"

Proud seemed to understand and gave a light whinny and a flawless nod up and down telling Arthur that he wants food now. Merlin couldn't help but laugh lightly at them, he never knew a pet would respond so eagerly to Arthur, but shut up when the prince shot him a glare telling him to shut up. Proud also seemed to glare at Merlin but didn't whinny or neigh in annoyance when Merlin moved closer to him and gave him a soft pat on the neck.

"You really need a haircut," murmured Merlin as he ran his hand through the long mane, making Arthur a little jealous at the same time.

"Merlin, don't tell me you're going to leave me for a horse," Arthur accused, now reining Proud and was ready for a stroll, "Merlin..."

Sighing, Merlin gently explained that Proud's mane was growing too long while he saddled up Chelsea, a pure black Arabian mare that was known for her beauty and patience with inexperienced riders, and led her outside into the open air. Following Merlin was Arthur and Proud; they were a magnificent pair, both gold and white like a snowy day in the sun, while Merlin and Chelsea was the midnight pair, both with raven black hair and flexible, slender build. Merlin thought they resembled night and day really well.

Getting on the horse was a nightmare for Merlin but a breeze for Arthur. The manservant kept falling over and over again and slipping off at the other side, Arthur was losing his patients and even considered riding off without him, but Merlin's cries for help stopped Arthur in his tracks and helped Merlin on in pure irritation. He was going to have to teach Merlin how to ride a horse.

"You really are useless," Arthur remarked, getting on Proud's back and started for the walk, "Hurry up or you'll be left behind"

"Yes _sire_," Merlin mumbled as he and Chelsea pranced towards Arthur.

Arthur didn't hear him and continued into the forest. Merlin wondered if Arthur knew the way, if he didn't then Merlin would have to use magic but he will also be risking himself. So, for now, Merlin was hoping Arthur was smart enough to remember the location.

The ride was a long and silent one, they had been on the trail for at least an hour and Arthur seemed to be looking around for something to direct him. This was what Merlin had dreaded; looking up into the sky he noticed the clouds were turning pink, meaning that the sun was setting.

"Arthur, I think we're lost," Merlin pointed out hoping Arthur would reason with him not lose himself to his bloody pride, "The sun is setting and we didn't even bring anything with us besides our horses"

"Well, thanks for pointing out the obvious," Arthur hissed, as he continued to ride through the dense forest, "We'll set up a fire somewhere and find our way home tomorrow morning"

"And if we can't set up a fire?"

Arthur gave Merlin a look of annoyance and grumbled out sarcastically, "No fire? We can't make a fire with those sticks and rocks can we?"

Rolling his eyes, Merlin set off to gather some wood for the fire and a couple of rocks while Arthur went to catch something to eat. Merlin didn't like the idea of being left alone, but when his stomach began grumbling loudly; Arthur just obliged and went to catch something. Merlin just hoped he didn't go too far.

Merlin returned with wood but Arthur wasn't back yet, sitting by himself, he began stacking the wood into a triangle cone shape and scraped and hit the rocks together to create some sort of friction, but it was failing.

Looking around in alert Merlin stared at the fire place and murmured out a spell:

"_Patefacio __incendia_"

A fire suddenly flared up and began dancing slowly as the wind slowly blew. Merlin stared into the fire as it fluttered to and fro in the air, creating grey smoke clouds above it. Merlin was glad that at least he had warmth.

"Arthur..." Merlin wondered, continuously looking back and forth for any sign of his prince, but no-one came.

Suddenly a voice came by and whispered:

'_Orbis __incendia__'_

* * *

Arthur was confused, he had been going the direction back home and then all of a sudden he saw a flash of light and he was at the lake. He tried looking for Merlin several times but he couldn't find his manservant anywhere. What was creepier was that he noticed a man in a dark brown hood wandering around aimlessly, mumbling about something.

"Excuse me" Arthur called out, but the man ignored him and continued to mumble out something, "Hey! I kinda need help here!"

"_Exsisto quieti__s,_" the man yelled out, shooting his hand in front of Arthur's face, silencing Arthur completely.

Arthur tried to speak, but he couldn't find his voice and stared in shock at the man. He was a sorcerer.

Panicking, Arthur made a run for it. Even if it was considered cowardly but his father always taught him that sorcerers were powerful but extremely dangerous and evil. What frightened Arthur further was the fact that sorcerers didn't need physical contact to kill someone, they can just say a couple of words and then that's it.

Taking a glance behind him, Arthur saw the sorcerer silently trudging after him, but wasn't mumbling things under his breath any longer. The small glance shocked Arthur, for that the appearance of the sorcerer resembled someone he loved dearly. Ocean eyes that were flashing gold, pale skin, and curled raven hair.

"Merlin"

Suddenly, the sorcerer that looked like Merlin paused and stared wide eyed at Arthur. The prince on the other hand took this chance to run; he would ask Merlin who that person was afterwards, first mission for now was getting out alive.

"Stop!" the sorcerer yelled out, but Arthur kept running, "_C__ongelo tractus__,"_

Arthur completely froze on the spot while the sorcerer motioned towards him and quickly teleported himself in front of Arthur. He took a good look at Arthur before speaking.

"I am Lewis," the sorcerer greeted with a smile that was too familiar to Merlin's, "I assume that you are Arthur Pendragon?"

Arthur couldn't nod and said loudly, "Yes, I am Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot, and I will not lose myself to a sorcerer"

"Ah, you are taught wrong, sorcery is a gift, not a curse, and what if I said that servant boy of yours –"

"You know Merlin?" Arthur asked in shock, "Who are you? What do you want with me and Merlin?"

"I need nothing, I am here just to tell you something," Lewis informed politely, "That is if you are willing to listen"

"What is it that I should know?" Arthur asked, the expression on Lewis's face told him that it was about Merlin, "What did Merlin do?"

"He did nothing," Lewis answered, "He just has been keeping something from you"

_Something_, the word just kept popping up, obviously this was going to reveal _something_. Arthur waited for Lewis to continue his explanation, but he didn't.

"What has Merlin been keeping from me?" Arthur demanded this time.

"My, my, aren't we impatient," Lewis laughed softly, "That boy has a gift that you people would consider a curse"

"Magic, Merlin's useless; he wouldn't have something as powerful as that!" Arthur opposed, not believing a thing Lewis was saying, but in his heart he knew his lover was hiding something from him, and he desperately needed to know what and why, "Besides, he trusts me, he wouldn't keep something this important from me, right?"

Arthur was beginning to doubt Merlin as thought's Merlin being evil started to form in his mind, then he realised he was being an idiot and tried to erase the thought from his mind. He hated being stuck on the spot.

"Prove it to me," he ordered, "I will not accuse Merlin unless you prove it to me"

Lewis sighed and muttered, "_Inter __tractu__s_"

In a blink of an eye, they were back where Merlin was sitting silently, trying to create a fire, Arthur wanted to chuckle at Merlin's stupidity, he shouldn't be hitting the rocks like that. Arthur's smile quickly disappeared as he heard Merlin murmur _Patefacio __incendia _at the fire and the fire appeared before his eyes.

"There's your proof," Lewis whispered, looking at Arthur sadly, waiting for some sort of denial.

Arthur stared coldly at the fire and then ordered, "Capture the traitor"

Lewis obeyed and whispered, "_Orbis __incendia__"_

* * *

**Sorry for updating late, I kinda had a writer's block for this chap. Thanks for the reviews, I am very grateful. **


	10. Solutions Left To Morgana Le Fray

**Chapter 10: Solutions Left To Morgana Le Fray **

The fire began whirling around in rings, Merlin gasped in shock and frantically tries to extinguish the flames, but the flames just kept growing and soon enough they were surrounding him forming a twisting spiral of fire. Merlin was caged in and there was no escape route.

"Let me out!" Merlin yelled out, "Help me! Help me! Arthur!"

Merlin was desperate now, Arthur wasn't here to save him and his magic was beginning to tire as he continuously tried to cast a spell on the raging flame spiral. Just when Merlin was about to give up, a figure came from the trees and emerged into the smoke. Arthur.

"You lied to me," he whispered, he looked like he didn't want to admit the fact that his lover didn't tell him the truth, "I always thought you were unusual, different, but I wasn't expecting this. Why Merlin? Why?"

Tears were streaming down both the prince's and his servant's cheeks for that they knew what would be coming. Either Merlin was to be executed or banished from Camelot forever; Arthur didn't want any of them. Lewis appeared from behind Arthur and stared at Merlin miserably and mouthed the words, _I'm sorry_ to him. Merlin didn't know who he was and stared in shock at the appearance of Lewis; it was like staring into a mirror...

"What will you do with him?" Lewis asked, his voice sounded sympathetic, "Surely you won't kill him right?"

"I have to, if I don't then that would be like treason..." Arthur managed to croak out, staring at Merlin blankly like a cold bottle of nothingness.

Merlin couldn't believe what he was hearing and this time violently crashed onto the fiery cage, burning him in the progress. Arthur winced at the sight of the damage Merlin made himself, but didn't move a centimetre closer to the boy. Merlin was crying now, sobbing tears as he watched Lewis come closer to him and whispered a spell to make the fire disappear. Arthur didn't move and order Lewis to take him to the castle. So, Lewis muttered a spell and a chain appeared out of nowhere around Merlin's neck.

"I cannot come with you, sire," he said quietly, bowing down low, "For I also am a sorcerer as you can see, I can take your servant far away with me or you could risk getting him killed in the castle. Perhaps, when you are King, I'll bring him back"

Arthur thought for a bit while Merlin was pleading that he wanted to stay.

"No Arthur! Please, please, don't make me leave!" Merlin shouted desperately, tugging at the chain, "I love you! You know that! I'm not going anywhere!"

The three words made Arthur wince slightly; he didn't want Merlin to leave, he wanted him to be there always, but this was risky, falling in love with a male not to mention a sorcerer _and _manservant as the crowned prince of Camelot, Arthur couldn't afford to let down his father and his people anymore than he already did, it was a choice between selfishness or selflessness. Taking a glance at Merlin, he felt like he wanted to hold him again, reach out and grab him and never letting go.

"You are to leave Camelot, and never to come back until I raise the ban on magic," Arthur decided, shooting Merlin a look of apology, "Lewis, I trust you to take good care of him"

"Yes sire"

Merlin looked devastated, he tried to reach out and touch Arthur one last time, but the prince just withdrew from his contact not wanting to miss his manservant more and regret his decision. Lewis bowed one last time before leading Merlin away into the forest while Merlin took his last chance to gaze at Arthur's eyes.

"Goodbye," Merlin whispered, disappearing altogether before Arthur could reply.

Standing there, staring at the place he had once met a deer that brought them together and the place where they found the lake and showed each other beauty, the place where everything began. Now, it was the place where things end, the place where Merlin left...

"Bye..." Arthur whispered as headed back to the castle by himself.

* * *

Wandering around in the castle, Cara sensed something was wrong, something was out of place as if one half of a soul was sucked away. She had bumped into Morgana, who also sensed the distress and together they found a depressed Arthur Pendragon sitting in his room, glaring at the ground with puffy, red, tear stained eyes. Morgana immediately dashed up to her almost brother and gave him a comforting hug while Cara stared at him in concern.

'_What is wrong?'_ she asked, _'Where is Merlin?'_

One mention of Merlin's name nearly made Arthur shatter into a million pieces like fragile china. Morgana heard and hugged Arthur tighter as if he were her only baby brother as he let down more tears flow down his face. Cara didn't say anything, fearing that she might blurt out something insensitive, instead she went to look for Philip, and perhaps he might know something. Even though the young deer didn't trust the dragon all that much, she knew he was the only choice when there's an emergency.

Morgana nodded at Cara, signalling her to leave and seek advice from the dragon.

When Cara had left, Morgana sat beside Arthur while he began to confess what had happened.

"Merlin has magic"

His blunt answer shocked Morgana. Arthur tried to not look at her bewildered, stormy blue eyes as he tried to clear Merlin out of his mind. _Why did Morgana have to look so much like Merlin?_ Arthur thought in depression.

"Tell me what happened," Morgana ordered yet in a soft tone, "I need to know what happened, you can't sulk forever Arthur"

Taking a large amount of air intake, Arthur began explaining.

"We were going to that lake again, like to regain past _good_ memories, but we got lost along the way, well, kind of lost. There was this sorcerer, Lewis was his name, he looked a lot like Merlin, and he took me somewhere I didn't know of, it was away from Merlin. He told me Merlin had magic, I didn't believe him that is until he proved it to me when he returned me to Merlin. I heard him mutter a spell under his breath and a fire appeared..."

Morgana was actually silently listening, "Please go on"

"I felt betrayed. I thought Merlin trusted me, but obviously he didn't, I sent him away with the sorcerer Lewis. He won't come back until I lift the ban on magic, I can't risk watching each day go past knowing that my father might track him down"

Morgana knew Arthur was did this for Merlin, but she also knew that magic or not, Arthur should've stood up for what he believed and cling onto Merlin. Uther may be a tyrant when it came to magic but he wouldn't harm his only son and heir to the throne and killing the person his son loved would be suicide on Arthur's part.

"Do you believe you've done the right thing?" Morgana asked raising her voice, "To have sent Merlin away will torture both you can him"

Arthur looked up to see Morgana unhappy expression, "I honestly didn't know what to do," he whispered, staring at the floor.

"You are Arthur Pendragon, heir of the throne, son of Uther Pendragon and the prince of Camelot!" Morgana listed out, giving Arthur a hard stare, "You have said that many times before! Why is it now that you cannot stand up for what, no, _who_ you love?"

"I don't want to see him hurt!" Arthur answered in a yell, "Do you think it's _that_ easy to watch your lover walk around knowing that he might get caught and _killed_? Do you think that he'll be _happy _knowing that I'm will eventually marry another _woman _not him?"

"But that doesn't mean you can leave him!"Morgana nearly screamed; she had lost all her patience, "Just because he has magic doesn't mean he's evil!"

"Yet he lied to me," Arthur whispered quietly.

"He didn't lie to you! He didn't tell you, for goodness sake can't you tell the difference? You claim that you love him yet leave him because of his talents _and _you listened to another _sorcerer_ and believed him! Explain that Arthur!" Morgana hissed venomously.

Guilt flooded Arthur and he began to feel like he was drowning. Why did he believe a stranger over the closest person he's ever known?

"Then what do you want me to do? I don't know where he is anymore," Arthur insisted, glaring at Morgana, "I'll get over him in time..."

Morgana couldn't believe what she was hearing, had Arthur just said he'll _get over _Merlin after all that drama? No way, she wasn't going to let this end too soon, she need the help of Cara, she would know what to do...

Without a sound, Arthur had left the room while Morgana was thinking deeply about the next set up...

* * *

'_Philip, I need your help'_

Cara couldn't get any response from the dragon ever since she got there; it seemed the dragon wasn't in the mood for giving clues... Never the less, she was not giving up.

"What is it now?"

Philip was angry; he must have noticed the absence of the young warlock and was not happy about it.

"Where's Merlin?" he asked in suspicion, "He better not have betrayed me again..."

Cara looked at him in shock, _'You actually bother thinking that Merlin would actually do that, you should be a little ashamed at your negative thoughts,'_ she scolded as Philip just rolled his eyes at her continuous lecture.

"What is it that you want?" he asked again, staring at Cara intensely waiting for a reply.

'_I told you already, I want your help!'_ Cara exclaimed in annoyance, _'Our wondrous Arthur Pendragon has sent Merlin away! Now he's regretting it!"_

The dragon tipped his head forward in a thinking position and mumbled something about a small mouse. The he returned his attention to Cara and smiled.

"Merlin is fine," he reassured as he played around with his fire, "You say the young Pendragon is suffering? Fear not, you may the answer is closer than you think"

Cara blinked in confusion. How can the answer be closer? What was it that she needed to convince Arthur to go after Merlin? _Convince… _That's right… She needed to make him believe in Merlin again, but how she's going to do it was another problem.

Morgana, the answers lay completely with her.

* * *

The breeze was relaxing, but it didn't calm down Merlin's anxiety. How was Arthur? What's he doing at the moment? Everything he wanted to ask Arthur was roaming around in his head like moths to a flickering flame. He wasn't expecting himself being caught so soon yet this sorcerer that resembled him told him off before he himself could. Merlin should be happy that he wasn't going to be executed, but right now, he'd rather be executed than to be away from the prince.

Lewis was carrying his basket full of berries and fruit along with his mini staff. He had ignored Merlin the entire time and didn't try to break the silence like Merlin tried. Merlin wasn't sure whether the man in front of him disliked him or just wasn't social. Either way, Merlin decided he was not to trust this sorcerer.

"I apologise if you miss your loved one," Lewis's voice was soft and quiet, almost sympathetic, "It must pain you to leave"

"Why did you tell him?" Merlin didn't care about Lewis's feelings at the moment, the only thing in his mind was why the sorcerer told Arthur and what the reason was, "You knew what would happen to a man and woman who gets caught doing magic"

Lewis sighed, "It's for the best. The Lady Flora has plans with Arthur," he announced, turning around, "She wishes to marry"

"Marry?" Merlin asked in confusion, "Marry whom? No, it couldn't be Arthur right?"

"I'm afraid it is," Lewis's skin paled as he hesitated every time he had to insert more information into Merlin's mind, "I-I cannot tell you anymore. It is beyond my right to do so"

Merlin ignored his plea and continued, "Does Arthur know about this? You must the one who sent her here without a carriage!"

Nodding, Lewis tensed up. He was giving out private information and he would be punished for it. Merlin asked him whether he was Lady Flora's personal servant, he answered with a no and told him that he was her court sorcerer and a well known one among the kingdoms of Italy. Merlin also found out he was an adopted child and that Lady Flora was his first friend and temporary or practice lover. Lady Flora was planning to ally the kingdom of Rome with Camelot.

"She's very noble," Merlin commented, "But that doesn't mean she can go prance into our lives and take over everything!"

Lewis agreed to a point there and said in a monotone voice, "I was her practice lover, and I am the one who knows her most, but this time she wouldn't listen to me, she said that I'm just jealous and silly for it because what she was doing was for the good of the kingdom"

Merlin knew he was lucky that Arthur thought the telepathy from before was because of Vera's magic, but ever did he think someone like Lady Flora would be so persistent and try to _get rid _of him from Arthur's life entirely. She didn't even think about her court sorcerer's feelings. Lewis was like an identical mirror image of him; dark blue eyes, snow white skin and black raven hair. It was strange… How could a complete stranger look so much like him?

"Is that your real appearance?" Merlin asked curiously, "Because you look too much like me"

Lewis laughed, "Oh this? Nah, it's a cover up"

With that said, he didn't need to utter a spell till he changed his appearance completely, revealing light olive eyes with the tints of hazel around the pupil, fair skin and blondish brown hair that flowed to his shoulders. Reality was he didn't look anything like Merlin.

"Why did you change your appearance?" Merlin questioned, he didn't understand why someone go through all that trouble being somebody else.

"Because the original plan was to perform magic in front of Prince Arthur so he would find out you were hiding magic from him," Lewis answered sincerely, leaning against a nearby tree trunk, "But Flora didn't show me his picture or even described what he looked like, so I was wondering around forest searching for the prince"

More questions rose into Merlin's mind, "Where did you stay if you were not allowed in the castle?"

"It wasn't that I wasn't allowed, it was more like Flora was determined that the plan would fail so I stayed outdoors in the woods and slept out here. I'll take you to my campsite," he explained as he led the way through the trees.

As they strolled past the trees, Merlin asked another question, "How did Lady Flora know that I had magic?"

Lewis paused before answering the question slowly, "You're well known across the land…Emrys a.k.a Merlin, son of Balinor the Dragon Lord. He too was well known as most dragon lords are. You're in every prophecy and prediction books we have. Every sorcerer and sorceress knows of your destiny"

"Then why are you separating me from Arthur? If he's my destiny and you know it, then why do you stop me?" Merlin questioned with a hint of accusation in his voice, "It doesn't make sense. You say it's my destiny but you're stopping me"

"It is Lady Flora who doesn't know about the prophecy," Lewis explained, "Only people and things magical know about it, if a human without magic knows it they would think we're insane"

Merlin mouthed an 'O' before nodding in agreement on the _insane _bit. Lewis smiled at Merlin's understanding and reason. Without knowing it, he began to walk side by side Merlin and was talking to him like they knew each other for years.

"Oh my god, can you teach me that?" Merlin asked in amazement as Lewis turned the surrounding air into droplets of transparent water that were frozen in midair.

"Just repeat my words," Lewis instructed smartly as he lifted his hand up and concentrated on a certain area of space, "_Glacialis__aer__…"_

Watching carefully, Merlin imitated Lewis perfectly. Droplets kept appearing that it was like dangling crystals from the sky under the disco ball like light that were forcing past the trees. It was upsetting that Arthur couldn't experience this with him and he wondered how Arthur was without him. Perhaps he'll return someday soon…

* * *

The clouds were trying to overlap the sun, trying to block out the light. Arthur was staring up into the sky dazed in the open field that he practiced his sword fighting in. All he could think about was Merlin; it was always that stupid, clumsy, rude, beautiful, sweet, considerate, responsible and witty manservant and _sorcerer _of his. He didn't know whether to be upset that he's gone or to be glad that his lover was safe and sound and not completely alone. Where was Merlin going to go though?

The question sent Arthur's mind in total worry, but he knew he couldn't do anything about it for that he didn't know where Merlin was anymore. Cara came walking up to him before nudging his neck affectionately; she was trying to comfort him. He smiled at her as he patted her back gently.

'_You OK?' _she asked in concern, sitting down next to him, '_You can always go find him you know_'

"I like that offer, but I don't know where he is," Arthur stated as he stood up and headed to the castle, "I gotta go to sleep, tired..."

'_But... What about Merlin?_'

"He is no longer in my life Cara; he will be a distant memory. Please, I need to move on now," Arthur declared, "I insure you that he will return when I am King, I promise you that"

'_And what if I don't want to you to keep that promise? I want you to go get Merlin and bring him back here,_' Cara demanded stubbornly, but Arthur just shook his head and silently trudged to his bedroom ignoring everything Cara had to say.

Cara tried to convince, but she wasn't as convincing as the sly Morgana. She found herself staring at the locked door of Arthur's chambers. '_Oh, what am I going to do now?_' Cara whined in her mind. Perhaps Morgana might know, but she didn't want to disturb the King's ward and drag her into one of Cara's little mischievous plans again.

Close by Gwen was bringing back the laundry from Morgana's chambered. The maidservant was humming a tune as she strolled cheerfully down the hallway. Cara stepped in tune with her; Gwen didn't notice her until one of the garments fell out of the laundry basket.

"Cara! How nice to see you here," Gwen greeted joyfully, obviously she didn't know about Merlin's departure, "Where's Merlin?"

It was a rhetorical question because Gwen wasn't able to read Cara's thoughts like Merlin, Morgana and Arthur could. Yet, Cara tried anyway. She jumped up and down before trotting down the hallway, past the stocks and towards the woods. Gwen obediently followed the whole way through without uttering a single word. She understood immediately; it was almost as if she could read Cara's mind after all.

"Do you wish for me to inform Morgana?" she offered, ready to head back to the castle, "But of course I have to do the laundry first"

'_That would be lovely Guinevere,_' Cara thanked in her mind, remembering that Gwen couldn't hear her she nodded her head dramatically and nudged Gwen's leg, pushing her towards the direction of the castle.

"Alright, alright," Gwen laughed as she rushed to Morgana's chambers, calling out she entrusted the laundry to Cara, "Give the clothes to Dandelion! She'll know what to do!"

With that said, Cara watched Gwen hurry back to Morgana. How would Morgana solve this?

* * *

Morgana was lying in her velvet bed, staring out the window like she would when she had things to think about. She wondered where Merlin would be doing at a time like this. She hoped he would return soon, for that he was the only person in the entire kingdom that could understand her and her fear of revealing her deepest secret. Remembering how happy Arthur was when Merlin returned his feelings made Morgana smile lightly.

"Excuse me, may I come in?" Gwen soft muffled voice asked from the other side of the door.

"Yes, come in," Morgana allowed, sitting up and leaned against the window, "Is something wrong Gwen?"

Gwen had darted from the entrance and right in front of Morgana, she didn't hesitate and went straight to the point, "It's about Merlin" she stated.

"What about him? What happened? Did you get information about his location right now?" Morgana asked frantically, hoping at least one of her questions would be answered with a 'yes'. Unfortunately, Gwen shook her head, but smiled.

"Cara… I think Cara wants you to know something. I didn't know Merlin left!" Gwen said in shock after informing Morgana about Cara.

"Sorry, I should've told you earlier," Morgana apologised as she got up and walked towards her table, only taking a glance back at the window, "Gwen, how's Cara at the moment?"

"Cara is fine, she's currently sending the laundry back to Dandelion," Gwen informed, taking a seat beside her mistress, "Where could Merlin have headed?"

Morgana heaved a sigh, "I wonder that myself. I feel that it was my fault. I shouldn't have plunged into this love thing," she confessed in an ashamed tone of voice.

"No, no, I think you did the right thing! You showed Arthur that he could be truly happy and love someone dearly!" Gwen reassured gently, "Trust me; they'll thank you some day!"

Laughing, Morgana thanked Gwen for always trying to cheer her up. The sheet of paper for the lists was still there, lying on the table uselessly. Morgana had hoped the list would continue smoothly, but after all that has happened it seemed that nothing was turning out right and without Merlin around, the list won't work.

It was Gwen's clever plan that surprised her.

"You know the feast? Why can't Merlin attend the feast? Not that we know where he is that is, it's just that we could send a pigeon out to search for him! I know you have magic… If you can, will you be able to help and put some devise on the bird so it won't lose its way?"

"Gwen…" Morgana began while Gwen was just about to start apologising, "You are a genius!" she squealed, hugging her friend and maidservant.

"T-Thank you, my lady," Gwen blushed brightly.

Grabbing the tips of the list, Morgana slid it towards her and pulled out a quill and began writing. Gwen peered over her shoulder reading.

_To my dear friend Merlin… _**

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****. **

**I'm sorry for updating la**te and for writing a chapter shorter than usual… My friend (strawberry-sunset194) had found another site for writing and we've been preparing stories there as well as in fanfiction


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